Brotherhood of the Wing
by defectivebrainstorm
Summary: The Storm Hawks have to make a emergency crash landing on an uncharted Terra. There they meet Wing, a fiery little jungle girl with an eye for the sky. Coincidence? I think not. StorkxOC.
1. Uncharted Terra

Summary: Ok, so I'm a new Strom Hawks fan, but I love it! Alas I've only seen up to episode 9, so if you have and helpful hints or suggestions don't be afraid to say so! Anyways, summary, my fic is about our favourite Sky Knight squadron who go on some crazy misadventures that I've set up for them. Along for the ride is a new character who I've invented, who you'll meet shortly. Pairings? So far it looks like a Stork/OC, I'm a total Stork freak. Oh, and there is gonna be some blood, gore, violence and swearing, but that's just how I roll. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Storm Hawks, but any characters that are not part of the original Nerd Corps cast are mine.

Note: "quotations" are obviously speech, _italics_ are thoughts. I'm sure you've all heard that before. K, lets get this show on the road!

1

Uncharted Terra

Emergency lights glared and warning sirens screamed at the crew of the _Condor_ as they raced around the carrier ship, trying to figure out the problem.

"We're losing altitude!" Piper cried. "Stork, do something!"

The Merb pilot pulled desperately on the steering handles and was somewhat successful in levelling off the shuddering ship.

"What's going on?" Aerrow asked him, coming over beside him and keeping his arms out a little to keep his balance.

"Something's wrong with the _Condor_" Stork said sarcastically, hands clenched around the steering bar and trying to keep the ship under his control.

'Well, duh!" Finn snapped from where he was pointing out steaming engine valves to Junko. "What _is_ wrong with the _Condor_?"

Stork growled to himself. As if he knew _everything_ about the _Condor_ just because he spent the most time on it! "I dunno, might be because of that hit it took from that Talon ship yesterday."

"But I thought you said that was nothing!" Piper said, clinging to the table to avoid sliding across the bridge as the _Condor_ banked violently.

"Well, that's what I _thought_, it could have damaged something and we never noticed until now and now we're all doomed because of it." Stork said, righting the ship with difficulty.

"Land ho!" Aerrow suddenly said, spying the outline of a Terra in the distance. "Stork, do you think you can get the _Condor_ to that Terra?"

"It'll be a close one. I'd say we have a 10/90 shot of making it."

"That's a close one?" Finn snapped.

"It's our kind of close one. Aim for that Terra, Stork." Aerrow directed and Stork angled the quaking ship towards the large land mass.

"Which Terra is that?" Junko asked, stopping from his mad dashing to the steam valves briefly to squint at the Terra.

Piper glanced over the map that she had spread on the table, which had only managed to stay there because Radarr was sitting on it, monkey-like fingers clutching the edge of the table.

"Well, according to the coordinates I had before the ship started to go out of control, we were….and that would put us……wait, that can't be….."

"What?" Finn stumbled over to look over her shoulder, although the map didn't make any sense to him. Aerrow came over as well.

"Well, if I've calculated this right, then we should be right here." Piper pointed to a spot on the map. An empty spot. "But that can't be right, because we're close to a Terra, and there are none on the map!"

"Maybe you've got it upside down." Finn said helpfully as the ship gave another violent shudder.

"The map is right!' Piper snapped indignantly.

"So it's an uncharted Terra." Aerrow said. "That doesn't matter, the nearest labelled Terra is two hours from here and I don't think the _Condor_ will make it that far." As if accentuate his point the _Condor_ groaned loudly and started to drop in altitude again. And this time, Stork couldn't pull up.

Aerrow raced back up to Stork's side to peer out the window. The Terra loomed ahead of them, sheer cliff face slowly but surely becoming level with the _Condor_. Aerrow gauged the distance and the rate at which they were dropping and grit his teeth. This really was going to be close.

Stork tried to angle the _Condor_ for an at least half decent landing, although that didn't really matter now. They were going to be lucky to make it _onto_ the Terra, let alone land without exploding on impact.

They were almost there now, with only 20 feet between the _Condor_'s belly and the rocky edge of the Terra. They were so close…

"We're going to make it!" Finn cheered, but then the _Condor_'s engines spluttered and died.

"HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!" Aerrow shouted and grabbed hold of the handles of the periscope. Finn dove under the table and grabbed onto the pole that attached it to the floor of the _Condor_. Junko wrapped his arm around five different pipes and braced for impact. Piper lunged for the circle of pipes in the middle of the bridge and hung on for dear life. And Radarr leapt from the table and landed on Aerrow's shoulders, clutching his red hair tightly in his little fists.

The tips of the _Condor's_ pontoons were over the edge of the Terra when they completely lost altitude. With a terrible, grinding screech of metal on stone and a sickening crunch the total front end of the _Condor_ collided with the Terra, jarring them all. Stork barely managed to hang on to the controls and keep the _Condor_ balanced so it didn't completely roll over. It spun on its side, mowing down several trees as it continued to rush over the soft earth at frightening speed. It titled over and rode along for over a hundred feet teetering dangerously on one pontoon before slamming back down and coming to a screeching halt a few yards from the border of a tangled jungle.

"Is it over?" groaned Finn from under the table. He crawled out and pushed aside Junko's tool box and the time pulse navigator, glancing around.

"Well, what do you know?" Stork muttered from where he was practically hugging the controls of the _Condor._ "We aren't burning to death. Although I suppose we've all got horrible internal injuries and our intestines are just waiting to go off like time bombs…"

"Excellent manoeuvring, Stork" Aerrow said, getting back to his feet, Radarr holding onto his hair in a death grip.

"Nobody's hurt?" Piper asked, smoothing back her hair.

"I hit my head. Probably have some serious cranial damage. I'll probably have to wear a helmet for the rest of my life." Stork sighed, letting go of the controls with difficulty.

"I'm alright, but I'm not too sure about the _Condor_." Junko said, holding up three broken pipes apologetically.

"Good thinking, Junko. Let's go find out what sort of shape the _Condor's_ in." Aerrow said, leading the way down the hall.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As it turned out, the_ Condor_ was in better shape then anyone of them would have thought. Well, on the outside, anyways.

"Oh yeah, we can definitely buff these out." Finn said, rapping his knuckles on a dent in the _Condor's _hull. "And those holes? No problem! A bit of scrap metal'll patch those right up!"

"Great!" Aerrow said with a smile "Could you two start patching up some of the bigger holes right now?"

"Sure thing, Aerrow." Junko said, already carrying a sheet of metal under one arm and his tool box under another.

With a nod Aerrow left them to go check on Piper and Stork, who were inspecting the interior of the ship.

He found Piper crouching outside one of the hatches in the hanger, holding her Solaris crystal in front of her like a flashlight.

"How's it going?" Aerrow asked as he approached.

"So far, so good." Piper reported, turning to face him and moving the light.

There was a clash, a thud, a clatter and a groan from within the hatch.

"Piper!" Stork said, sounding irritable.

"Sorry!" Piper cried, moving the light back into place. Aerrow crouched next to her in front of the hatch.

"How's it look in there, Stork?" he called, not even going to bother to ask how the Merb had managed to force himself into the cramped crawlspace.

"I'm certain all this grease is going to give me some kind of horrible reaction…. Piper, can you lift that light a little higher?"

"How's this?" Piper asked, adjusting the light.

"Better…ow…ok, crystal charge transport lines intact, support cables all where they should be, turbo thruster lines are fine…." Stork listed things off, sounding like he was talking more to himself then them. Aerrow felt confused; if everything seemed to be fine then what had brought the Condor down? Aerrow looked at Piper quizzically and she shrugged.

"Stork?" Aerrow called after the Merb had been quiet for some time. "What's up?"

"Did you find the problem?" Piper asked.

Stork was swearing quietly as he hauled himself out of the hatch, looking very greasy indeed.

"_This_ is the problem" he growled, holding up a small metal box. Or, what looked like it _could_ have been a box, at one point in time. Now it just looked like a twisted hunk of scrap metal.

"Er… what is it?" Aerrow asked.

"What is it? What _is _it?" Stork eyes stretched wide and he looked like he couldn't believe Aerrow had asked such a question. "This is one of the most important parts of the ship!"

"Really? 'Cause I thought it looked more like one of the pieces from Junko's collection." Piper said.

Stork oogled at her. "It most definitely is not! This is-was the Crystal Energy Balance Converter!"

Piper looked like she understood the gravity of the situation now, but Aerrow was still very confused. "What does it do?"

"What does it do? _What does it do?_" Stork sounded slightly hysterical now, like he had back in the Black Gorge when Junko had suggested they take Mr. Cheaper's shortcut. "Without this we might as well not have an engine! This is what sends the energy from our crystals to all the other parts of the _Condor'_s system when they need it! Without this, the ship can't fly!"

"Oh," massive understatement. "But why didn't we realize it was damaged right away?"

"The Cyclonians hit us a few times yesterday. Due to the fact that we didn't immediately fall out of the sky and plummet to our deaths, I'd say the area around the CEBC was damaged but the CEBC itself was fine. Then today something most likely gave, like a piece of scrap metal and hit the CEBC, scrambling it and making it over heat. And now here we are." Stork explained, eye twitching.

"Well, shit!" Piper exclaimed.

"That's what I was thinking."

"Well can't you fix it?" Aerrow asked, trying to sound optimistic.

"Does this look like it can be fixed?" Stork demanded, thrusting the Crystal Energy Balance Converter at him.

"Do we have a spare?" Aerrow asked faintly.

"I'll have to check, but I'm thinking no."

"Well, shit!" Aerrow said.

"You can say that again! Not only are have we lost our CEBC, but we crashed on an _uncharted_ Terra! I looked over all my other maps, Aerrow; this Terra isn't on any of them! No one would ever find us here! We could be stranded forever!" Piper said, starting to sound a little hysterical herself.

"Ok, look, we all need to calm down. Let's get Junko and Finn in here and think of something to do, alright?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, shit!" Finn said, reiterating the phrase for the third time that day. Aerrow had just finished explaining their situation to him and Junko as they all sat around the table in the wreckage of the _Condor. _

"But it's not that bad," Junko said, trying to sound confident in his own words "I mean, we can just get another CEBC, can't we?"

"Well, maybe if we crashed landed in the middle of Atmosia." Stork said sarcastically. "But in case you haven't noticed WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!"

"Stork, calm down." Piper said, sounding sharp and soothing at the same time.

"Ok, so there's no place here where we can get a CEBC" Aerrow said, trying to lift everybody's spirits, which seemed to have crashed with the _Condor. _"But there's other Terras nearby, one of them's got to have a garage where we can get a new one."

"Considering we make it that far." Stork muttered. Aerrow shot him a warning glance but Piper came to Stork's aid.

"I'm not trying to shoot your plan down, Aerrow, but Stork's got a point. The nearest Terra is about two hours away from here, and that's by carrier. I don't know if our skimmers can make it that far." she said, motioning to one of her maps.

"Well, that's ok" Finn said "We don't know if this place really is uninhabited. Maybe there is someone here who can help us out."

"Good idea, Finn! Did anyone see anything like a town or city while we were coming down?" Aerrow asked.

"Sorry, I forgot to check while we were speeding towards certain doom," Stork said and earned an elbow in the ribs from Piper.

"Stork, I know it's hard for you, but let's try to be optimistic here, ok?" she said in "I- don't-want-to-hear-another-paranoid,-pessimistic-word-leave-your-green-lips-or-else" tone.

Stork saluted her, making an exaggerated, jackassy point to keep his mouth shut.

"Alright, here's the plan. We need to save the power in the energy crystals in our skimmers in case we do need to take off for another Terra. Plus, this place looks pretty densely forested. I don't think we'd be able to ride through that jungle, and if there are people here and they see us fly over, they may think we're Cyclonians and attack. Who knows, this place could have blaster cannons like on Bogaton. So I think the best plan of action would be for us to trek through the jungle one foot." Piper said, her tactician skills kicking in.

"Alright, but let's take our weapons, just in case." Aerrow added, feeling like he should at least contribute to the plan. "We don't know if anyone who might live here is friendly or not."

Stork was struggling to keep his mouth closed at this point. Taking his chances with whatever the "or else" Piper had in mind, he burst out "Are you all insane? Do you know how crazy that plan is? It's suicide! You don't know what could be out there! Carnivorous Thorn-Whip Constrictor Vines, Giant Venomous Stalker Moths and Amphibious Fanged Leeches! Not to mention snakes that'll bite you and melt your insides, huge jungle cats that could swallow you whole, vampire bats and flowers that'll latch their tendrils onto you and slowly suck out your soul!!!"

"What, no Spiny Gorge Sloths?" Finn asked, also earning an elbow from Piper.

"_Gigantic Poison-Toothed _Spiny GorgeSloths." Stork corrected snappishly, lifting a finger.

"Whatever. And I guess we'll all come down with Jungle Madness, right?" Finn asked, wiggling his fingers and faking a look horror.

"It's possible." Stork said, oblivious to his sarcasm.

"Ok you two, cut it out. Piper's plan makes sense and we don't really have many options here." Aerrow cut in, reminding them of their current situation. "Come on, let's get going while we still have light."

'Have fun with the giant tarantulas and razor leaves." Stork said, moving to go and check his booby traps to make sure they weren't damaged in the crash (you never knew when you might need a trip wire to save your life).

"Oh no you don't!" Aerrow said, grabbing the Merb's shoulder. "You know what the ship needs, you're coming with us!"

"What? I don't think so! All the _Condor_ needs is a CEBC, it's pretty standard air ship part! You don't need me to come with you!" Stork said, trying to shake off Aerrow's grasp. At least he hadn't fainted like back in the Black Gorge.

"Actually Stork, we do. They need proof of a Carrier Pilot's licence before they can give us the part. You're the only one of us with one, and since obviously none of us look like you, you have to come along for the identification." Piper said, mimicking the way Stork lifted his finger whenever he pointed out a flaw in their plans.

Stork scowled at her and then glanced warily out at the jungle through the windshield.

"Oh, come on Stork. Besides, if you don't come with us, you'll be all by yourself to defend the _Condor _when those Amphibious Leeches of yours come over for lunch." Finn said with a wicked little grin.

"Oh, fine. But don't blame me when we come back to find the _Condor_-"

"In the same shape and place that we left it." Aerrow said sternly. "Now come on, let's get going."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From her place high in the canopy of the jungle, on the edge of clearing where the _Condor_ had crashed, she watched the five-six if you counted the strange creature they had with them-misfit teenagers leave the wreckage their air ship and head into the jungle. She'd seen the whole thing from her hiding place, the crash of the strange old airship, the mismatched crew pour out of the ship and examine the damage and then she'd watched them all have a group meeting in the bridge of the ship. And now they were heading out into the jungle, for God knows what reason.

Try as she might, she couldn't pick out anything about them that proved they were Talons. But that didn't matter. This was exactly sort of thing that the Cyclonians would do to try and draw out unsuspecting Sky Knights. Anger roiled in her gut at the mere thought of those slimey Cyclonian bastards. As if sensing her mood, her companion growled from his place on a nearby branch.

"We'll follow them and find out what they're after. If they show any signs of hostility…" she paused to snap her neck quickly and grin wickedly "Leave the first shot to me."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As it were, they were not attacked by venomous moths or amphibious leeches. In fact the jungle was anything but threatening. It even had a haunting beauty about it: there were plenty of exotic flowers, all painted bright colours and with intricately shaped petals (none with soul sucking tendrils though). The trees grew tall and crooked, covered with spongy green moss and draped with cord-like vines. There were plenty of colourful birds and butterflies flitting about the tangled jungle and there were even mushrooms that sprouted from among the intertwining tree roots and that shed eerie glowing fluorescent light across the earthy jungle floor.

"This place is beautiful." Piper said, reaching out to touch the petals of a brilliantly red flower and ignoring Stork's disdainful, "are you trying to get your fingers bitten off?" look.

"I just wish it weren't so thick." said Aerrow. They'd made Junko walk in front so his large frame could carve them out a path, but even then it was slow going.

"Let's just cut a path, you know, Crocodile Dundee style." Finn suggested, pulling out one of Aerrow's lightning blades and chopping it around him like a machete.

"What's Crocodile Dundee?" asked Junko from ahead.

"Oh, come on, you guys don't watch enough TV." Finn said with a pout.

At that moment there was a slight noise from over head, almost like something large slithering over the branches up above their heads. They all stopped and looked up, Stork making a strange whimpering noise and pressing closer to Piper.

"Giant Rear Hook Fanged Pythons." she heard him mutter and he reached into the satchel he'd brought for something or other.

"Keep together." Aerrow said coolly, trying to keep them all calm.

There was a creak from overhead, but from a different place then they'd heard the first sound.

"It'll go for Aerrow first" Stork was muttering to himself "With hair that red…"

"Shush." Piper hissed at him.

Suddenly something detached itself from the shadowy branches and dropped onto ground in front of them and made a horrible snarling sound. Stork yelped and grabbed onto Piper's arm so tightly she lost feeling in her fingers.

"So I was a little off on the size." he whispered in her ear and she took a hesitant step away from the sleek black jungle cat.

"Uh, nice kitty? Kitty kitty kitty?" Junko said, reaching a hand out to the cat tentatively. The cat let out a roar and Junko leapt back in alarm.

The cat moved back in forth and then crouched into a hunter's stance, tail lashing wildly and baring its teeth with a snarl.

"Finn?" Aerrow whispered.

"I got it." Finn said, lifting his crossbow and taking aim.

That's when the second hit came.

Something came crashing down from the dark canopy and landed directly on Finn's shoulders. Finn crumpled with a muffled yell, dropping his crossbow. Aerrow moved to try and haul the figure off Finn, but it had already moved away, lunging at its next victim.

Stork had leapt aside when the figure had plunged from the trees, also dragging Piper out of the way. Whether this was a planned act of bravery or not, it put him in the path of the crazed creature and not Piper. He toppled over as the figure smashed into him, bowling him over. He caught a flashing glimpse of electric blue before the figure had an arm around his neck and had rolled behind him, clutching him in a tight strangle hold. He gagged and tried to scramble away, but the figure's hold was too strong.

Junko had been stunned when he saw Finn go down. Now he snapped out of his daze and reacted, snatching the figure up by the back of his shirt and lifting him clean off the ground. Unfortunately the figure still had a good hold on Stork and he was lifted from the ground too.

"Jun…ko!" he choked.

"Let him go!" Aerrow snapped, drawing his lightning blades.

To his surprise, the figure _did_ let go of Stork. He fell back to forest floor where he lay, coughing and gasping. Aerrow was confused at the abrupt co-operation of their attacker until he realized why he had released Stork so quickly; he'd needed his arm free.

The figure's hand went to his belt and whipped out a long, thin scimitar, which flashed bright blue.

"Junko!" Aerrow shouter, bringing his blades up to try and parry the figure's scimitar before if could get hooked in Junko's ribs. He didn't have to worry, though: thrusting the figure far away from his body, Junko shook him until the scimitar slipped from his grasp and then slammed him up against a nearby tree. Aerrow held one blade out, inches from the attacker's throat.

"Go ahead and do it, then." the figure growled and Aerrow took a surprised step back. He'd been sure their attacker was a male… but that voice was so….

The attacker looked up and left no doubt in Aerrow's mind.

"Huh. You don't look very much like Cyclonians." the girl said, glancing over them all.

So, you know the drill, R&R! (please). And I know the Strom Hawks are supposed to be too young for pilot's licenses, but I needed a good excuse to get Stork off the Condor. And I'm not really sure how old they all are supposed to be, so I'm just gonna go with sixteen.


	2. The Lost Girl

**2**

**The Lost Girl**

"We're not Cyclonians!" Aerrow said, getting a little tired of always having to explain that.

"That's what they all say." The girl muttered, eyes roving from Aerrow to Finn, who was picking himself up from the ground to Piper, who was crouching next to Stork.

"We're not Cyclonians, we're the Storm Hawks" Aerrow persisted, turning to show her the emblem on his armour.

The girl stared at him for a moment before laughing bitterly. "Nice try. I know for a fact that the Storm Hawks are dead. They were all destroyed by the Dark Ace and the Cyclonians."

"The old ones were, yes. But we're the Storm Hawks reborn, the new Storm Hawks squadron." Aerrow explained.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Really." She didn't believe them.

"Look, if we were Cyclonians don't you think we would have killed you by now?" Aerrow asked, starting to lose his patience.

The girl seemed to consider this. She glanced over at Junko, who was still holding her against the tree. "You don't have to squeeze so tightly you know." She said to him.

"Oh, sorry." Junko said, loosening his hold slightly. It was actions like that that were going to get the soft hearted Wallop into trouble one day, Aerrow realized with a sigh. The girl wiggled a little into a more comfortable position against the tree. As she did so the strange cat suddenly sprang forward and stood protectively in front of her with a soft growl.

"Ok, so you're not Cyclonians. But aren't you all a little young to be a Sky Knight Squadron?" she asked sceptically.

"If I had a dollar for every time I heard that one," Aerrow sighed.

"We're sixteen!" Finn said hotly, rubbing his neck. "How old are you, twelve?"

The girl glared at him. "Sixteen," she corrected and Aerrow blinked in surprise. To be fair she didn't look twelve, but he'd never have guessed she was the same age as them. She was shorter then Piper, although not by much, and despite the fierce scowl on her face and her gleaming eyes, her face still held the look of a child.

"We're the Storm Hawks, no matter how young we may seem." Aerrow declared. "And we've fought our fair share of Cyclonians. We've even gone up against the Dark Ace."

The girl's eyes flared suddenly. "You've fought against _the_ Dark Ace?"

"Oh, sure, you've heard of _him_." Finn muttered.

"Oh, I've more then heard of him." the girl said. "Well, anyone's who's against the Dark Ace is a friend of mine. Brotherhood of the Wing and all." Her voice had lost its icy suspicion now and actually sounded fairly nice. "I'm sorry if I may have startled you; I didn't think you were Cyclonians, but you can't be too careful these days."

Aerrow nodded in understanding. "Sorry if we surprised you by showing up uninvited. We had to make an emergency landing and this Terra was closest."

"I know. I saw the whole thing. I wanted to come and make sure everyone was alright after the crash, but I didn't recognize your air ship; it must be an older model. I thought it might be a trap so I waited nearby until I could find out more. I saw you all head out into the jungle and decided to follow you. I figured by then that you probably weren't Cyclonians, but just to be sure I sent Falshade down ahead of you to see how you'd react." The girl paused here and stroked the large cat's head "He wouldn't have attacked you, by the way." She added. "It was just a test. Talons would have attacked out right, but you guys didn't. I was about to come down to introduce myself when you pulled out the crossbow." She turned her gaze to Finn now, looking apologetic. "I couldn't let you shoot poor Falshade, so I jumped you. I'm sorry."

Finn never was one to hold a grudge, especially against a girl. "Hey, don't worry about it." he said with a wave of his hand.

"Wait a moment! Why are you so quick to forgive someone who tried to strangle me?" Stork said suddenly, jumping to his feet awfully quickly for someone who had indeed been strangled.

"Oh, that. I'm sorry about that too. But I knew after I attacked you you guys might hit first and ask questions later. I grabbed the Merb to try and do some hostage negotiating, but it didn't go exactly as I had planned." the girl said, motioning to Junko at the last part. "I wasn't expecting a Wallop."

"We weren't expecting crazed jungle girls." Stork muttered and the girl laughed.

"Oh yeah, that's right, you thought I was a Rear Hook Fanged Python, didn't you?" she said with a grin that showed off strangely sharp teeth. Stork's eye twitched.

"So, the Storm Hawks, huh?" the girl said and she stuck out a hand around Junko. "My name's Wing."

"Aerrow." said Aerrow, shaking the girl's hand, which was strong and rough with calluses. "I think you can let her go now, Junko." he added and Junko released her.

"I'm Junko" he said, shaking Wing's hand and causing her head to rattle atop her shoulders.

"Finn." Finn said with a sly little grin. Aerrow could only guess what was on his mind.

"I'm Piper. "Piper introduced herself with a warm smile. "And this is Stork." she prodded his shoulder and made him scowl at her.

"I can speak for myself." he said "What about him? The one with all the teeth?" he said, jabbing a green finger at the jungle cat.

"This is Falshade." Wing said, stroking the cat's head again. "What about him?" she asked, stretching out her fingers for Radarr to sniff. Aerrow was glad to see he didn't growl at her like he had "Lark".

"This is my co-pilot, Radarr." Aerrow spoke for his little blue friend. Wing smiled as Radarr let her give him a quick scratch behind the ears.

"So tell me, what did you all go traipsing off into the jungle for in the first place?" she asked them, picking up her fallen scimitar.

"We were looking for some help. We need parts to fix our airship." Aerrow explained.

"What kind of parts?" Wing asked.

"One, really. A CEBC?" Aerrow asked hopefully.

Wing thought for a moment then nodded. "I'm pretty sure I've got one of those kicking around somewhere."

"Seriously?" Aerrow said. He couldn't believe their luck.

"Yeah. I've got tons of parts back at my garage. Come with me, I'll get you everything you need."

Aerrow glanced at the others, who all nodded, except for Stork, who shook his head frantically. Aerrow gave him a "you're out-voted" look and turned back to Wing. "Ok, lead the way."

Wing smiled and turned to leave it was then that Aerrow noticed the tattoo on her neck, just under her right jawbone. Until now it had been hidden beneath to hood of her overcoat. It looked like a sleek flying animal, half cat and half eagle. It was piecey, like a Sky Knight squadron emblem and Aerrow thought he should recognize it from somewhere.

"Hey, what's that?" Finn asked suddenly and Aerrow wondered if maybe he'd seen the tattoo too.

"What?" Wing asked.

"That…those, on his back." Finn said, motioning to Falshade.

"Are those wings?" Piper asked, crouching next to the cat.

"Yup." Wing said and Piper let out a squeal. Aerrow leaned closer and saw what were indeed wings folded compactedly along Falshade's back.

"Oh my gosh! He's a panthera! I thought they were extinct!" Piper exclaimed, cautiously reaching out to touch Falshade's back. Falshade didn't seem to mind; rather he stretched out languidly and bumped up against Piper like a house cat rubbing around its owner's legs.

"Really? That's odd. There's a whole colony of them here. Most of them stay up by some rocky clefts on the west side of the Terra. I found Falshade as a baby and he's stuck with me ever since." Wing said, rubbing Falshade's head affectionately.

"A whole _colony_?" Piper gushed "Oh, wow! I'd really like to see them!"

"Well, if you have time before you go, I can take you there. They're pretty easy going about visitors, as longs as you don't get too close to their nests."

"That'd be awesome!" Piper said, smiling from ear to ear.

Stork cleared his throat obviously. "I hate to break up your nice little chat, but we do have an air ship to repair."

"Stork's right. Let's get that part first and talk about the pantheras later, alright Piper?" Aerrow said.  
"Ok. Lead the way, Wing." Piper said and they set off again. That's when Aerrow noticed something else about Wing. Strapped across her back was a huge broadsword. It was nearly as long as she was. Aerrow could barley believe her small frame could carry it, let alone wield it. He saw Finn oogling, his face looking as amazed as Aerrow felt. The large sword barely seemed to hinder Wing, though. She weaved her way through the jungle at a swift pace as if she'd done nothing else all her life.

"How big is this Terra?" Finn asked after some time of trekking through the jungle.

"Not very big, actually. We'll be there in a minute, don't worry." Wing said from ahead, slicing expertly through the foliage without actually cutting anything.

"There wouldn't happen to be a restaurant there, would there? Like a McFaughn's Deep- Fry Hut?" Finn asked hopefully.

Wing laughed. "I've never heard of one of those, but I can assure you we don't have one."

"You've never been to a McFaughn's? Were you raised under a rock?" Finn asked, sounding dumbfounded. Wing just laughed again and then turned onto a footpath that suddenly seemed to sprout from the jungle floor. They only had to follow it for a minute before the jungle seemed to evaporate around them and they were standing at the base of a small, cleared hill. Atop the plateau sat a lonely house and large barn.

Wing was still leading them up the trail as if there were nothing unusual about the lack of buildings. Aerrow and the others, however, were very confused.

"Dude, where's the rest of…everything?" Finn whispered.

"I don't know." Aerrow whispered back and then he called ahead to Wing "Hey, Wing?"  
"Yeah?" she asked, looking back at him.

"Is this, um, it? Like, there's no city or anything?" Aerrow asked, sounding rude without intending to and feeling like an idiot. His felt his face flush.

Wing didn't seem offended though and smiled to let him know she knew what he meant. "Nope. This is it." And she continued up the hill. Aerrow led the others onward, feeling more confused then ever. If this was it, then where were the rest of the people?

He opened his mouth to ask when Piper suddenly elbowed him in the ribs and pointed off to the side. Aerrow looked in the direction she was pointing and his blood ran cold.

Over to the side of the barn was a row of eight grave stones, each with a set of weapons crossed over the front: there was a colossal double headed axe, a pair of scimitars similar to Wing's, a pair of short swords, three different long swords and a jagged looking blocking staff. The thing that disturbed Aerrow the most though was the weapon at the very end of the line. It was a massive broadsword and it was almost identical to Wing's.

Aerrow looked back at Piper, a horrible thought dawning on him. He could see the same thought in her eyes. Finn was looking unusually sombre and Junko looked like he was trying to come up with a better answer then the one he'd already arrived at. Stork had lost the suspicious look in his eye and was starring after Wing with an unreadable expression on his elongated face.

"Don't ask her anything." Aerrow whispered and they all nodded.

"You guys need some new legs along with that CEBC?" Wing called down to them and they all jumped like guilty children caught in the act. "Do you want something to eat before you get that part?"

"No thanks, we-" Aerrow began, but he was run over by Junko and Finn.

"FOOD!" they both cheered, thrusting fists into the air. Piper covered her face with her hands and groaned.

"You two won't starve." she muttered, sounding mortified.

"I keep telling you, it's the Maurvian Gut Worms." Stork muttered.

Wing was laughing. "Come on in, there's no point working on an empty stomach."

Junko and Finn were beside her in an instant. "I like this girl!" Finn said, putting an arm gamely around her shoulder. "You could learn a thing or two from her, Piper!"

"She'll change her mind when she's sees how much you two eat." Piper said defensively.

"Don't let him bug you, Piper. Come on, maybe having something to eat first is a good idea." Aerrow said, following Wing, Junko and Finn towards the house. Piper followed and Stork trailed along behind her nervously.

The inside of the house was welcoming and lonely at the same time. It was almost like it wasn't used to occupancy but it still longed for it. It was sort of haunting in a way and Aerrow noted that this didn't go unnoticed to Stork. He hesitated in the doorway and glanced around like he expected something to spring from some dark corner and devour him. He began muttering to himself about possible booby traps.

"Stork, get in here!" Piper hissed, hauling him in by the arm.

"I don't know about you, but in my survival guide it clearly states to keep on your guard around people who've tried to kill you." Stork said snarkily.

"Didn't I say I was sorry about that? And I wouldn't have killed you, by the way. Maybe made you a little blue in the face, but that's about it." Wing said, not seeming at all bothered by Stork's obsessively paranoid personality.

"Oh, well, that clears that right up. I feel much safer now." Stork said, sarcasm thick enough to cut with a knife. Wing just grinned playfully at him and Aerrow swore he saw a tiny fleck a pink colour Stork's green cheeks.

It was then that Wing took off her over coat and hung it on a rack near the door and the Storm Hawks finally got a good look at the strange girl. She didn't wear the skin tight clothing that they did, which was supposed to help you slice through the sky without so much drag. Wing wore a baggy pair of dark cargo pants that looked like they could have fit two more of her in them. They ended just below her knees, where they were tucked into her worn black combat boots. Her belt was extremely bulky and made her look bigger then she actually was. Her shirt clung to her comfortably, a few places supporting protective metal armour. She had a hard looking face with a strong jaw line and straight nose that curved up just slightly at the end. Her hair was black, a glossy sort of black that matched Falshade's coat. It hung down a little past her shoulders in jagged chunks, except for a section at the back, which fell all the way down to her waist. It was her eyes that caught Stork's attention though. They were what he'd seen flash beneath her hood when she'd rolled over him, and they were indeed electric blue. The colour seemed to leap out dramatically from under her dark hair.

"Go ahead and sit. I know you were hoping for something deep-fried, but will sandwiches be alright?" Wing asked.

"Oh yeah! I think this calls for a Hero Max-Pack Triple Decker Finn Supreme!" Finn declared, making himself at home on one of the kitchen chairs. "Do you have any roast beef?"

"I've got some rothe I can cut up." Wing said, digging around in an ancient looking refrigerator.

"Rothe?" said Finn, Junko and Aerrow at the same time.

"Free-range jungle cattle." Wing explained with a grin, putting a plate on the table that had a strange looking chunk of meat on it. It wasn't green in colour or anything, but it didn't look like your average piece of roast beef either.

"I'm actually surprised you guys didn't run into any of them. Or rather, none of them ran into you. They're very territorial. Makes 'em easier to hunt though." Wing said as Radarr hopped onto the table and sniffed curiously at the rothe.

"Radarr! Get off the table!" Piper exclaimed. Falshade, who was tall enough for his eyes to be level with the table top, growled at Radarr, who stubbornly growled back, despite the fact that Falshade could probably swallow the furry little devil whole.

"Hey!" Wing said to Falshade. "Manners! Don't worry about him by the way." She added to Piper, who was still glaring at Radarr. "He can sit up there if he wants."

At that moment Radarr tore a hunk of the meat off with his teeth and sat back on the table, gnawing on it happily. Piper winced and gave Aerrow a look. He took the hint and accepted the knife Wing handed to him and said to Radarr "Here, buddy, I'll cut you a piece off, alright?"

Shortly they were all sitting around the table, making strange arrays of sandwiches. Junko's towered about eight layers high while Stork nibbled cautiously at a plain piece of bread.

"What are these?" Piper asked, picking up a bright red fruit from the bowl on the table.

"Dracos Berry Fruit. Eat it, you'll like it." Wing said, taking one for herself. She pulled it apart at the top to reveal a sticky, gelatinous substance inside, dark red and sprinkled with tiny black seeds. She demonstrated how to eat it by scooping some out with a spoon. Piper eagerly split open her own Dracos Berry and dug into it with a spoon. She smiled widely when she stuck it in her mouth. "Wow, that's really sweet!" she said. "I've never heard of these before."

"_You've_ never heard of them? Mark the calendar, people!" Finn teased her around his second Hero Max-Pack Triple Decker Finn Supreme.

"Ha ha. I guess that means they only grow here." Piper said.

"Maybe. Anyways, if you guys are done we can go look for that part now. It may take awhile to find, I've got tons of junk in that old barn out there." Wing said, pushing her chair back and getting up. "Just leave the dishes on the table, I'll clean up later."

"Are you sure?" Piper said, jumping to her feet. "Because we can give you a hand in here before-"

Wing shook her head "Nuh-uh, I don't think so. I can look after it, don't worry."

"Helpful hint number two, Piper." Finn whispered to her as he got up. She scowled at him. Junko shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and nearly tripped over Falshade as he stood up.

"Whoops, sorry buddy." he said around a mouthful of bread and rothe and whatever else he'd packed into his sandwich. Falshade just ruffled his wings in what almost could have been a shrug and followed after Wing as they left the house.

From the top of the hill you could see the rest of the Terra spread wide beneath them, jungle sprawling untamed as far as the eye could see. Aerrow couldn't even see the clearing where they'd left the _Condor_ and he was surprised at just how far they'd really come. Still, the view was fantastic and Aerrow looked back up at the house, thinking there couldn't be a better location to build a home. But who had built it and where we they now? Aerrow's eyes crept back over to the row of headstones and he couldn't help but wonder…

Wing stooped in front of the large barn door, which had the same emblem as Wing's tattoo painted across it. Piper's eyes suddenly widened as they scanned over the emblem.

"You're a Sky Knight!" she exclaimed and Wing turned abruptly to look at her.

"What?" she asked and her voice had taken on a steely edge.

"Well, it's…" Piper faltered "It's just that I recognize that sign. It's the crest of a Sky Knight squadron called the Shadow Strykers. Nobody really knew too much about them, but they were always there to fight when they were needed. Their emblem was a black Gryphyn, with the eagle representing fierce loyalty and the lion representing strength and courage."

"You sure know your stuff. But I'm not a Sky Knight. What else do you know about the Strykers?" Wing asked, not necessarily sounding threatening but not sounding friendly either.

"Well, I, um… nobody really knows how…they… I don't think I remember anymore" Piper said in a small voice. Wing glared at her for a second and then her face lost its frostiness.  
"Sorry. I get a little touchy when the Strykers are brought up. Let's get you that part." she said, hauling open the door to the barn. Several bats came screeching out through the door and streamed down towards the jungle. Stork dropped to the ground faster then if he were on fire and put his hands over his head.

"I told you I needed the Bat Repellent!" he cried at Piper, who just hauled him back to his feet and dragged him into the barn as Wing clicked on the lights.

The barn was bigger on the inside then it seemed from the outside, and it resembled a once often used hanger. There were work benches and toolboxes and pieces of equipment strewn everywhere. In one corner there was a stack of crates all filled with crystals and at the back was wall to wall shelves filled with boxes and engine parts. And in a clear space in the middle of it all stood a skimmer.

"Sweet! Is that yours?" Finn asked, ducking over to get a closer look.

"Yup, that's my baby." Wing said proudly, running a hand affectionately along the skimmer as she past it on her way to the shelves. It looked like a standard Ultra that had been tweaked a little here and there. It had black runner boards with grey tips and fronting. On each side was a patch of electric blue with a Stryker's Gryphyn scrawled in the middle.

"Alright, the CEBC is most likely back somewhere back here, but if you guys see anything else you need go ahead and take it." Wing said, pulling a box off a shelf and rifling through it.

"Are you sure?" Aerrow asked, not wanting to take advantage of Wing's generosity.

"Oh, yeah, I won't be using it anyways. Except skimmer parts, run those by me first, please."

"Ok, if you're sure. Thanks a lot."

"No problem. Brotherhood of the Wing."

"Alright, Stork, you know what a CEBC looks like, why don't you go give Wing a hand while we sort through some of this stuff." Aerrow said. Stork gave him a pained look.

"She's not going to kill you, Stork." Aerrow added a bit more forcefully.

"She's tried once." Stork reminded him, but Aerrow was already sifting through a pile of parts with Finn and Junko.

With a sigh Stork went over to assist Wing at the back of the garage. He noticed with distaste that there was a thick coating of dust over most of the boxes, as if they hadn't been taken off the shelves in years. This could take hours to find the right box, assuming Wing really did have a CEBC. This could all be a very clever trap… Stork began to think of what sort of drugs Wing may have slipped into their food and wished he hadn't eaten so much bread.

Wing was pulling down a second box now. "I have a feeling it'll be on one of the lower shelves. You wanna start down at that end?"

"Why don't _you _start at that end and I'll stay here." Stork suggested. Ha.

Wing shrugged. "Whatever. Just watch for rats."

"Rats?" Stork's eye twitched like mad but Wing was already heading down to the end of the row, and he could swear she was giggling to herself.

"Falshade'll get 'em" she called back to him.

Stork eyed the panthera as he sat down on a work table nearby and he didn't feel at all comforted by the notion. He wanted nothing more to be back on the _Condor_ and so he started taking down boxes so he could hunt through them. Most of them were full of random smaller parts that had been collected and thrown together in one box. Stork felt an itching desire to sort out all the pieces or at least put some labels on the damn boxes. He tried and failed to not inhale too much dust and just knew he was going to develop chronic asthma. And he was sure he saw a very tiny spider bite him and then disappear behind the shelves. There wasn't actually any puncture wound or a bump, but it was a very tiny spider mind you. And the tiny ones were the most dangerous.

Sucking on his finger to try and draw the poison out he nearly jumped out of his skin as when Falshade brushed past him and stood on his hind legs to peer onto one of the shelves.

"Oh, no…" Stork said, backing away. "Please tell me there is _not_ a big, disease packing rat in there."

As it were, there wasn't a rat on the shelving. There were three of them.

Falshade caught the first one in his powerful jaws and pinned the second one under his claws. The third one, however, came flying off the shelf and tried to make a get away between Stork's feet. He yelped and leapt backward, staggering into the work table and falling backwards into a pile of junk.

"Uhhhhhhhhg." he groaned, starring at his own green toes which dangling a few feet above his face.

"Hey, nice fall. I'd give it a nine and a half. You ok?" Wing was looking down at him looking concerned and amused at the same time.

"I'm fine. Disorientated, bruised and breaking out in a strange rash, but I'm fine." Stork said. He tried to roll over and get up but ended up falling right back down into the junk again.

Wing fought back a laugh to spare to Merb's feelings and grasped his four fingered hand. She yanked him to his feet with more strength then Stork would have guessed and turned back to the shelf he'd been searching. She scanned the array of boxes and suddenly cried "Aha!"

Standing on tip toe, Wing reached up for large box on a higher shelf the Stork had been looking on. She grasped it with her fingertips and pulled it back from the shelf and got overbalanced. She stumbled and Stork shot out a hand to grasp her elbow and catch her. He let go again almost immediately, feeling foolish. Wing just cocked an eyebrow at him and set the box down on the table. "I think this is it. I remember it for some reason." she blew a layer of dust from the top and opened it carefully. Stork wrinkled his nose as the dust floated past his face and squinted into the box.

"Bingo!" cheered Wing, pulling out what was indeed a CEBC. "Alright! Hope it still works, this thing looks ancient. Then again, it's probably newer then your airship." she said with a chuckle.

Stork scowled. Some people had their skimmers, he had the _Condor_. It was his baby and he didn't appreciate it being poked fun of. "I don't recall making any nasty remarks about your skimmer." he growled.

Wing nodded. "You're right, I'm sorry. Old or not, that thing took that landing better then your average airship. Who's your carrier pilot? I thought you guys were goners, but that landing was something else."

Stork felt a little heat rise to his face. "I'm the pilot." he muttered.

"Seriously?" Wing's eyes widened. "Wow, you're amazing! Did you go to like a top secret school for pilots?"

"Er, no, I never had any training in my life." Stork said, fiddling with his sleeve awkwardly.

"You're kidding, right? Dude, you've got some serious skill!"

"I prefer a strong desire not to crash and burn."

Wing laughed and Stork realized he liked to hear it, which made him all the more unnerved.

"This will fit your ship, right?" she asked, examining the CEBC. "I don't know too much about carriers."

"It's kind of a one size fits all thing. This will work, considering it's functional." Stork said, holding out a hand so he could inspect the CEBC.

"Found it!" Wing called to the others while he did so and they all let out a whoop.

"Great!" Aerrow said, coming over and stepping around Falshade, who was gnawing on a rat's carcass. "Will it work, Stork?"

"Theoretically, yes, that's the idea."

"Perfect! So lets take it back to the _Condor_ and get her fixed!" Aerrow said.

"Aw, man, does that mean we have to trek back through all that jungle?" Finn asked, a grease smudge smeared across his cheek.

Wing seemed to think for a second before brightening with a sudden idea. "Hey, I got an idea. I can fly one of you back on my skimmer and we can pony back the rest of 'em. It's much faster to fly over the jungle then to hike through it."

"I'll go." Aerrow volunteered. Wing nodded and walked over to her skimmer and wheeling it out of the garage.

"Aerrow, does the word KAMIKAZE mean anything to you?" Stork demanded, clutching the CEBC gingerly as though he thought it would explode at any moment. "All it takes is to kill the engine and she takes out you _and_ the _Condor_ in one fell BOOM!"

Aerrow sighed. "Stork, I trust her. And besides, she's really helping us out here. Why would she go to all this trouble just to kill us later? She could have really had us in the jungle back there-"

"She had _me_ in the jungle." Stork pointed out.

"Nothing's going to happen to me, Stork." Aerrow said in a "end of discussion" tone.

He headed over to where Wing had kick started her skimmer and slid on behind her.

"We'll be back in about ten minutes. Make yourselves at home!" Wing called over the rumblings of her engine. And with that she gunned it across the plateau and snapped out the wings of her skimmer as she and Aerrow reached the lip of the hill. Then they were soaring out over the canopy and back to where they'd left the _Condor_.

Falshade let out an indignant roar after the skimmer and sat dejectedly on the grass. Piper went over to him and scratched him behind the ears. "I guess you're used to flying along with her, huh?" she said to him in an adoring voice. She'd always had a thing for large cats.

"Hey, look at this!" Finn said, dragging a large chest out from below a bench. It had the black Gryphyn inscribed on the lid.

"Finn! Put that back right now! Whatever's in there belongs to Wing, and I'm sure she doesn't want you snooping through it!" Piper said, hurrying back over to them.

"Hey, she said to make ourselves at home." Finn said, opening the trunk and looking inside.

"Finn!" Piper cried exasperatedly.

"Check this out! Medals! A bunch of them! These are the kind they give to Sky Knights!" Finn said, totally ignoring her and pulling out several medals. "Whoa, this guy's a hero! All these medals are for extreme acts of bravery in the line of duty and whatever, to some guy named Falco Ravencroft. Ever heard of him?" Finn asked.

"It sounds familiar. I think he must have been the leader of the Shadow Strykers." Piper said, curious despite herself.

"There's some diplomas in here too, from the Sky Knight academy. And some registration forms... boring stuff…lots of miscellaneous stuff too… I wonder why it's all in here." Finn said, holding up an old scrap book and some sketches. "Ooooooooh, love letters!" he said, dropping everything else and pulling out a bundle of letters all tied together.

"Finn, put those back!" Piper snapped.

"I just wanna know who they're from." Finn whined, but Piper snatched them away.

'That's going too far! This is someone's private things! How would you like it if someone went looking through all your things?"

"I'd like it fine!" Finn argued, reaching back into the chest and pulling out two thick old books. One was a collection of fairytales and Finn tossed it on the ground without a second glance. Stork bent down and picked it up, tracing a finger along the picture on the cover.

"Check it out, this is the Squadron Log! Bound to be something good in here!" Finn said, flipping open the leather bound cover.

"Hey, what's that?" Junko asked, looking over Finn's shoulder and pointing at a corner of paper that was sticking out from the rest of the pages.

"You guys!" Piper exclaimed, losing her cool. "Just leave it alone and put everything back!"

"It's an old photo." Finn said, ignoring her again and extracting the picture from between the pages. Piper leaned in a little, her curiosity getting the better of her. Stork glanced over too, holding the CEBC in one hand and clutching the book of fairytales to his chest with the other.

Finn tilted the photo so they all could see. In it was a group of seven people, all men except for one. Well, two of them were men; the other four looked like grown up little boys, all smiling widely and with mischievous gleams in their eyes. The one on the end had messy blonde hair and clever blue eyes, and he had his arm around the shoulders of another boy, maybe a year or two younger, who had black hair and brown eyes. His face was blockier then the boy beside him, but they shared the same smile. Behind them stood a tall, lean man with floppy black hair and clear blue eyes. Next to him stood the other man, with the same unruly black hair but grey eyes. He had his hand on the shoulder of another boy, this one with brown hair and grey eyes that matched the man's. He looked different from the other two bys, but you could pick out some similarities, like the life in his eyes and the curl of his smile. Beside him was another blacked haired boy, this one with electric blue eyes and supporting the most intoxicating smile of them all. He looked even younger then the second boy, and he had his fist dug into the scalp of the girl was standing in front of them all, who was also smiling and looking over at the boy who was giving her a nuggie. You could just make out a tattoo on her neck and the long 'ponytail' of hair at the back.

"That's Wing!" Junko said, stating the obvious.

"Look at the rest of them. They all look kinda alike." Finn said, peering down at the picture intently.

"Look what they've all got on them! It's the Stryker's crest!" Piper said, pointing at the Gryphyn on the blonde boy's shoulder armour, similar to Aerrow's.

"If they've all got the crest, then these must be…" Finn began.

"The Shadow Strykers!" Piper finished excitedly.

"What are you doing?"

They all jumped. They hadn't heard Aerrow and Wing return with the skimmers, so rapped up in their own discovery that they were. Stork dropped the fairytale book guiltily, but there was no way for Finn to hide what he was holding. Piper jumped up in alarm and backed away from Wing, who was starring at them all with an unreadable expression on her face. Aerrow was behind her, looking ashamedly at his squadron.

"We…we…we were just…" Piper stammered.

"It was Finn's idea!" Junko said, jumping away from him.

"Thanks, guys." Finn muttered.

"Why are you looking through my stuff?" Wing demanded.

"I was just curious?" Finn said lamely.

Wing sighed. "I think you know the one about curiosity."

Stork gulped.

"Look, I'm sorry, I just saw the chest and wanted to know what was in it." Finn said hurriedly "I'll put it all back right now."

"I don't think so. Put the photo down and leave it. _I'll _put it back."

"Ok." Finn said, laying the photo down carefully on the floor of the garage. "Is…that's you in the picture, isn't it?" he asked cautiously.

"No, it's my evil twin." Wing said sarcastically, although her anger sounded like it was dissipating.

"Then if it is you then those people must be your squadron. You may not be a Sky Knight, but you are a Shadow Stryker!" Piper said.

"No, I'm not. I was too young to be a Stryker." Wing sighed and bent down to pick up the picture and stare at it with far away eyes. "That's not my squadron, really. It's my family."

Author's note: Oooooooooooooh, cliffhanger! So what did you think? Thank you to all who reviewed last time: Dotskip 317, Supergirl saves the world, CraneLee, Green Peridot and Nefferduat. I appreciate the compliments and the information. I've been trying to watch some episodes on YouTube, but I've still got Windows98 and dial-up, so it takes forever. I've seen bits and pieces. But I saw Fire and Ice this weekend, loved it! Quick question: Stork and sandcakes. I heard he eats them, read about them in a few fics but I've yet to see an episode where he actually eats one. Does he? Anyways, 'til next time, peace out and remember: Brotherhood of the Wing (which is like my version of Pay it Forward)!


	3. The Fall of the Strykers

**3**

**The Fall of the Strykers**

"The Strykers were made up of my family; my dad and my uncle, my three brothers and my cousin." Wing began. They were all sitting around the chest in the garage, listening to her tale. "I wasn't old enough to be an official squady yet. My dad said I had to wait until I was fourteen. I guess people didn't know very much about the Strykers. We lived here and we weren't as well known as the Red Eagles or the Interceptors or the Storm Hawks. But we liked it that way. We didn't even have a home Terra to defend. But we always came when we were needed, no matter what. So I guess when they died, nobody really knew. They just knew they'd stopped coming."

"My aunt died before I was born. I don't even know what happened to her, I never asked my uncle.

"My mom died when I was three. She was sick. She was a strong, spirited person, but her immune system was almost non-existent. Just a cold could have put her in critical condition. That's the reason my father built this house out here. He wanted her to be away from places where she could catch any sort of sickness from other people. It was always warm here, and that helped too."

"Wasn't there any way to cure her?" Finn asked.

"No. It wasn't a disease or anything. Her immune system just wouldn't work, and the doctors couldn't fix that. I don't know why she died. She'd been healthy the whole time she'd been on this Terra. I guess the rest of her just shut down too, one day. I can barely remember her." Wing explained and Piper reached for her hand.

"So it was always just me and the boys around here: my dad, Falco the Sky Knight, his brother, my Uncle Shade, my cousin Beau and my three brothers, Vallen, Vaughn and Farren." she smiled sadly at the picture, pointing out each member in turn. "Vallen was the only one who got my mom's hair. He was the oldest. Vaughn was kinda the oddball, because he was so big and bulky. Farren was the youngest, only two years older then me, and me and him were always getting into trouble. Beau was Vaughn's age and they two of them were as thick as thieves. We used to spend entire days out in the jungle messing around."

"What happened to them?" Piper asked quietly.

Wing sighed and snapped her neck. "Cyclonians came and attacked us when I was twelve years old. We weren't a big of targets as some of the other squadrons, but maybe that's why the Cyclonians singled us out and attacked without warning and without reason. They came out of nowhere, dozens of them, led by the Dark Ace himself. My dad made me hide even though I wanted to fight. He said goodbye and I watched them all get on their skimmers and fly off to meet them, even though they were so badly outnumbered. I don't even know how they found us. We'd always been safe here. I stayed in my hiding place like dad told my to and I waited for them to come back. I told myself they would. I waited for two days in my hiding place. I tell myself now it was because I was just doing what I'd been told. But I know it was because I was scarred. I was afraid to come out, afraid that the Cyclonians might be waiting for me. I was afraid of telling myself they weren't coming back."

Wing stopped for a moment to breathe and lick her lips. The others didn't prod her; the story was obviously heart wrenching for her to re-tell, even though there were no tears in her eyes.

Wing took a deep breath and continued. "On the third day I forced myself to come out. I tried to trick myself into thinking they were still ok, that they'd all be out in the yard waiting for me, but I didn't really believe it. Deep inside, no matter how hard I tried to tell myself differently, I knew the truth."

"I found Vallen first. He'd crashed just on the edge of the Terra, at the bottom of the hill. His skimmer was totally destroyed and he wasn't in much better shape. I… I didn't really know what to do. I was only twelve years old. I guess I sort of though that if I brought him back to the house, he might come back, he might wake up. He never woke up. That's when it really hit me: He was dead, and there was no bringing him back. I buried him the next day."

Piper sniffled. 'Oh, Wing, I'm so sorry." she said, putting her arms around the other girl.

"What about the others?" Aerrow asked gently.

"After I buried Vallen I went looking for them. I searched the Terra first. I walked because I didn't want to fly over and maybe miss something. I searched the whole damn jungle and I didn't find them. I realized then they must have all gone down over the Wastelands. So I went down there to find them."

"You went into the Wastelands _on foot_?" Stork asked incredulously.

"At first. I didn't want to miss them on skimmer by accident. At first all I found were smashed up parts of skimmers, I couldn't tell whose. Then I found a Cyclonian, dead beside the wreckage of his skimmer. I left him there to rot. It was the least he deserved." Wing said the last part with a voice full of loathing. "A little while later I found Vaughn and Beau. They'd always fought side by side, and they went down that way too. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to haul them back to the Terra by myself, so I went back for my skimmer. On the way back to them I found my uncle next to bunch of downed Cyclonians. He'd gone down fighting like a true warrior. Later that day I found Farren and my Dad. There were a lot of Cyclonians scattered about too; they'd taken out as many as they could, but in the end they couldn't win. They were overwhelmed by them. I brought them all back and buried them where they should have been, next to Vallen and my aunt and mother. That was over four years ago now. You five are the first human contact I've had since then." Wing looked up at them all with a weak smile. "It was so hard for me not to come down from the trees and talk to you when I first saw you. But I was also afraid you might be Cyclonians. I've always worried that they might come back one day, to take over the Terra. In a way I'm glad your ship crashed here. It's so good to here other voices again."

Aerrow, for all of Atmos, didn't have a word to say. Piper rubbed Wing's back comfortingly.

"Did…did anyone ever know what happened to them?" Wing asked her. "Did everyone know they were dead? Or did they all just think they were traitors and had stopped coming to fight? They would have always come if they could."

"Nobody really knew what happened, but we assumed they were dead. Nobody ever accused them of treason." Piper assured her Wing nodded gratefully.

"Sometimes I wonder if I could have saved them. That maybe they weren't…dead right away and if I'd only been braver, I could have come out and saved them." She said quietly.

"But it wasn't your fault!" Aerrow said. "You can't blame yourself for what happened. It was nobody's fault but the Cyclonians. Think about it, Wing, if you'd have left your hiding place then you probably would have died too!"  
"But I would have died doing what I knew was right." Wing protested. "It's just one of those things that haunt you; what could I have done that might have made things different, you know?"

Aerrow nodded. "But you can't blame yourself." he insisted.

"Sometimes that's all you've got." Wing said and Aerrow furrowed his brow, confused.

"I hope you'll never have to know what I mean." she said, getting up. "We should probably get going back to your ship, it'll be dark in a few hours and you'll probably want to get out of here before then, right?"

"Uh, yeah…" Aerrow said, getting up as well. Piper looked at him in disbelief with wide eyes and opened her mouth, but Aerrow shook his head and mouthed "we'll talk about it later."

Wing straddled her skimmer and Falshade bounded over with a growl. "You wanna come this time?" she asked him and he let out a roar of agreement and sprung into the air, unfurling his mighty, leathery bat-like wings which were so sleek and streamline that you could barely see them when he had them tucked against his back. With two powerful sweeps he was high above them, looking like a huge, majestic bat. You just had to stare in awe at him.

"Wow…" Aerrow heard Piper breathe and he agreed with her totally as he hopped onto his skimmer and started the engine. Stork climbed hesitantly on behind Piper on her heliscooter and Finn and Junko climbed onto their rides and then they were all in the flying through the sky after Falshade towards the _Condor_. Aerrow felt his spirits soar along with his skimmer as the cool air rushed past him. He would never, ever get sick of this.

Falshade pulled up along side him for a moment to investigate Radarr's side car. He seemed confused as to why Radarr had to ride along with someone else instead of fly on his own. Aerrow admired the way his wings moved so easily and powerfully at the same time, easily allowing him to keep up with Aerrow's skimmer. He stayed by his side for a moment longer before rolling over the top of Aerrow's skimmer and banking past Piper's heliscooter. Stork gave a startled yelp as Falshade swung past them and Piper reached out a hand to touch Falshade's flank as he sped past to fly beside Wing.

It was only a short ride to reach the _Condor_ and soon they were touching down next to their beloved airship. Stork practically flung himself from Piper's heliscooter in his haste to get back to his ship. They could hear him muttering to her as if she could actually hear him and reply back.

"It's his baby" Aerrow explained to Wing, who nodded with a smile.

Stork opened the hanger doors for them and hurried off into the depths of the _Condor_ to get started on replacing the CEBC.

Wing hung back awkwardly at the entrance, looking unsure. Piper reached for her arm and said "Come on, I'll show you around."

Wing smiled happily and followed Piper into the _Condor_, looking around with wide eyes like a child.

"I've never been on a carrier before." she explained.

"The _Condor_ isn't just a carrier. It's our home." Junko told her. The entered the bridge and then followed the hallway down to where Stork was making the repairs, Piper pointing out different things to Wing on the way.

They reached the hatch where Stork had once again wedged himself in and Aerrow bent next to it.

"How long is it gonna take you to put the CEBC in, Stork?" He called inside.

"Twenty minutes, maybe. Probably less, but that's only if you want us all to explode."

"Twenty minutes, then." Aerrow said, straightening up. 'Piper, did you still want to go see those pantheras?"

"Yes!" Piper said.

"It won't be dark before you get back, right?" Aerrow asked Wing.

"Oh, no, we'll be back before then. Anyone else want to come?" Wing asked.

"No thanks, I'm not really a cat person." Finn said and Junko shook his head.

"Thank you for inviting me, I'm flattered." Stork called from inside the _Condor_, his voice echoing weirdly inside the hatch.

"You wanna come, Stork?" Wing said loudly into the hatch, and Aerrow could just imagine Stork covering his large ears and he chuckled quietly.

"And have my face ripped off by savage jungle beasts? I'll pass." Stork said, only wanting to be invited so he could decline anyways.

"I'm going to stay here. You two go and have fun, but don't come back too late, ok?" Aerrow called after the two girls, who had already headed off down the hallway.

"Ok!" they both called back.

Aerrow looked after them thoughtfully. He remembered how well Piper had gotten along with Lark, how happy she'd seemed, and then how crushed she was when she found out she'd been tricked by Master Cyclonis. Having Wing around seemed to be good for her, and Aerrow was confident that Wing wasn't about to transform into the sadistic leader of Cyclonia either. And it also seemed like having Piper around was good for Wing too.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was strange riding without actually driving, Piper realized. She'd never been someone's passenger before, she was usually the one giving someone else a lift. Now she was roaring down a jungle path behind Wing, who manoeuvred like an expert among the trees.

"How far is it from here?" Piper called to her over the wind.

"Not very. I'll cut the power and we'll walk before we get there, though, so we don't alarm them." Wing called back. Falshade was weaving in and out of Piper's sight ahead of them, leaping from branch to branch and occasionally spreading his wings for a second to keep up his lead. It was too crammed in the jungle for him to all out and fly.

After a moment Wing slowed down and stopped, propping her skimmer on a tree and leading Piper through the trees on foot. Piper realized they were steadily going up hill.

After a moment or two Wing held up a hand for Piper to wait and carefully pushed aside a hanging wall of moss. She put a finger to her lips and beckoned Piper forward. Piper came up level to her looked out eagerly.

At first, she didn't see anything among to rocky clefts ahead of them. Then a large black shape exploded out from a shadowy crevice and took to the skies and Piper gasped. Another panthera leapt from a cliff to join the first and then Piper could see more and more of them, some stretched out on the rocks, catching the last rays of sunlight for the day while others soared over head into the jungle. Falshade burst out from the treetops with a roar of greeting and was answered by more then one of his brethren as he flew over towards the outcroppings.

"They accept him, even though he lives with you?" Piper asked Wing, intrigued.

"Yep. He's even got a mate over here, she had babies a few months ago. I suppose she'll be teaching them how to hunt soon." Wing said, scanning the air as if looking for them.

Piper squealed. "Babies? How many?"

"Three. Two females and a male. We can get a little closer if you want."

Piper nodded eagerly and Wing led them up to a flat rock a few yards from the base of the first cliff. She climbed at top it and sat down, cross-legged. Piper joined her and watched in wonder at the fabulous that were gliding about all over the sky.

"It's too bad the guys didn't want to come see this!" she said dreamily.

"My brothers couldn't keep away from this place!" Wing said with a laugh. "Farren and I used to camp out under the stars here all the time."

"He looked a lot like you." Piper said, trying not to sound too careful but being extremely careful at the same time. "In the photo I mean. He was the one giving you the nougie, right?"

Wing laughed easily. "Yup, that was him. Me and him were always together. He told me it was because neither of us were old enough to be squadys yet, but even after he was official he always had time for me. They all did, really. They loved training and sparring and flying but they still loved to play games with me too. And I loved to train. We were always together."

Piper nodded, not really knowing what to say.

"How long have you guys been friends?" Wing asked her instead.

Piper smiled. "I've know Finn and Aerrow all my life. We all lived on the same street. We used to have skimmer boards, you know, those things kids get before they're old enough to fly real skimmers?"

Wing nodded.

"Oh, god, we used to have a blast on those things! We'd do other things to, we'd spend all day out in the woods or at the park or at somebody's house. They're basically my brothers. We met Junko when we were eleven. He came to Atmosia to go to school. We got to be friends pretty fast, and he and Finn got along like they'd know each other all their lives! And you were always on the winning team for Flyball if you were on Junko's team! He says he was never really liked back on his home Terra, but everyone loved him on Atmosia.'

Wing was smiling as she listened to Piper. "What about paranoia's gift to Atmos?" she asked with a chuckle.

Piper had to chuckle too. "Stork, well… I don't really know where he came from. Nobody really knows a whole lot about Merbs. My parents sort of…adopted him when we were twelve. They said an expedition group found him half dead in the Wastelands. He was just wandering about, half conscious, no skimmer or anything in sight. I asked him about it once and he never gave me an answer. He lived with us until we were fourteen, when Aerrow went the finished at the Sky Knight academy… we all left home then and went off to become an official squadron."

"Wow… quite the squadron."

"Yep, they're the best. I think Aerrow worries about me sometimes, thinking that because I'm the only girl I'm gonna get lonely and leave, but I can't imagine life without them." Piper said truthfully and from the heart. "I'd never leave them."

Wing nodded. "Of course you wouldn't. I'd never have left my squadron either."

"I'm so sorry." Piper said again, reaching for the other girl's hand.

Wing looked up as a panthera swooped over their heads. "Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Of course!" Piper said, wondering what was on her mind.

"You'd do anything for your squadron, wouldn't you?"

"I'd go through Hell and back. I'd die for them." Piper said without hesitation.

"Do…do you think I'm…how would do I say it… do you think I'm a coward, Piper? Do you think I don't deserve to call the Stryker's my squadron?" Wing asked, looking into Piper's eyes in a way that wasn't pleading or fierce, but in a way that just said she wanted Piper's honest opinion.

Piper was taken aback. She'd just gone and said she'd die for her squadron, and yet Wing had hidden while her own was destroyed! What could she say to the lost girl that wouldn't make her a liar or a hypocrite but didn't make Wing feel like a pathetic coward either?

"I don't think you're a coward at all, Wing. And you defiantly deserve to call the Strykers your squadron, and your family. I believe that if you'd have gone out there with them you'd have fought to the death beside them like any loyal squad-mate would." she said at last, slowly and clearly so that every word would sink in. "What happened wasn't your fault and wouldn't have ended any better it you died along with them. You aren't a coward, Wing. You're alive today so you can keep fighting for the Stryker's. You didn't betray them."

Wing nodded gratefully. "I would have gone… I wanted to… my father made me stay." she said in a shaky voice.

"I believe you. As long as you keep fighting for what is right, you didn't let them down." Piper assured her, rubbing her arm.

Wing smiled at her, her eyes glassy. "Thanks, Piper."

"You're welcome." Piper said, and then added "Sisterhood of the Wing."

Wing laughed appreciatively. "You don't even know what that means do you?"

Piper smiled. "Not a clue."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Here goes nothing." Stork said, firing up the _Condor's_ engine. After a frightening groaning sound that seemed to drag on for an eternity, the _Condor's_ engine spluttered to life and to floor of the bridge began to vibrate subtly as the ship idled, ready to fly.

"Alright, Storky!" Finn cheered, punching a fist into the air and using an annoying pet name for Stork that he used to call him when they were younger.

"Well, that could have been worse." Stork muttered. "And don't call me that. It gets under my skin worse then…Flesh Fleas."

Finn just grinned in that boyish, irritating way of his. "Love you too, St-orky."

"The girls are back!" Junk called from over by the window as Wing's skimmer touched down on the runway.

"Finally." Stork growled. Finn reached forward and pulled down on a handlebar, making the _Condor's_ horn blare like a foghorn, rattling the jungle and making both Piper and Wing jump. Finn cackled manically and as soon as the girls entered the bridge he said "Stork, why would you go and blast the horn like that? You scared those poor girls out of their wits!"

"Nice try, Finn. I _saw_ you laying it on the horn like that." Piper said, hands on her hips. Finn just grinned like the Devil.

"Did you have a good time?" Aerrow asked her.

"Oh, Aerrow, you should have seen it! There were tons of them, I counted at least twenty four. And some of them had babies! And they weren't afraid of us at all!" Piper gushed enthusiastically.

"Well, are you afraid of a piece of steak or do you just want to eat it?" Stork said but Piper ignored him and asked instead "So, how's the _Condor_?"

"We're all patched up and ready to go..." Aerrow reported and Piper seemed to deflate a little. "What?"

"Well, it's just…" Piper glanced at Wing, who was playing rock, paper, scissors with Radarr.

"You didn't let me finish. I was thinking we should spend the night here and head out in the morning. We don't really have a course planned out yet anyways, and this seems like as good a place as any to stay the night." Aerrow said. Stork looked at him with wide, twitching eyes.

"I must have missed the memo, but, um, WHAT?" he frothed.

Aerrow hadn't exactly discussed this with the group yet, but it really was getting dark outside and the honestly didn't have a plan of action set out yet.

"That sounds good to me! We can have a campfire! Finn's making s'mores, people!" Finn said, taking off to the kitchen to look for marshmallows. Junko followed after him eagerly.

"Is that ok with you, Wing?" Aerrow asked and Wing brightened visibly.

"Of course! It's not like I own the Terra or anything."

"Ok. We'll get a good night's sleep here and head out first thing tomorrow."

Wing nodded. "Don't you dare think of leaving without saying goodbye first! Come by whenever you get up!" she said, turning to leave. Piper was starring at Aerrow with in disbelief and looking like she could barely hold back her indignation. She waited until Wing was back on her skimmer and flying out into the darkening sky, Falshade gliding along side her, before she exploded.

"Aerrow!" she shouted.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"What is wrong with you? Why are you just leading her on like that?"

"Pardon?"

"Why haven't you asked her to join us?" Piper exclaimed shrilly.

Stork's ears shot up. Aerrow felt his face turn red, although he didn't know why.

"Why do you think I wanted to stay the night? We need to have a meeting." he said gruffly. Piper's entire face lit up. Stork, on the other hand, looked like his eyes couldn't grow any wider or they'd roll out of his head.

"Aerrow, are you serious?" he demanded.

"Are you serious?" Piper squealed.

"I want to see what everyone else thinks first." Aerrow said and Piper threw her arms around him.

"Finn! Junko! Get in here right now!" she shouted, running down the hall to the kitchen.

Stork was oogling at Aerrow accusingly. Aerrow shuffled his feet uncomfortably under the pilot's creepy yellow gaze. "What?"

Stork scissored his mouth a few times before any words actually came out. "Are you INSANE?" he demanded.

"I like to think not."

"Aerrow, are you seriously considering asking someone who could very well be an assassin to join our squadron?" he said, voice climbing in pitch.

"Minus the assassin part, yes."

Stork gawked at him. Then he turned his back on him, muttering "Great, our leader's got brain worms…"

Finn, Junko and Piper joined them then, Piper bouncing in excitement.

"This better be quick, Aerrow, I want to get a fire going while I can still see what I'm doing." Finn grumbled around a mouthful of marshmallows.

"Just hush up and listen to Aerrow!" Piper hissed at him.

"Ok, well, I've been thinking…" Aerrow scratched at his head absently. It was a little unnerving to have them all starring at him expectantly (well, Stork still had his back to him, but the other four anyways). "What would you all say if I asked Wing to join us?"

"Seriously?" Finn asked while Piper gave a squealed again.

"Aerrow, how can we not ask her to join us? She's all alone here, and I think we'd be as good a thing for her as she would be for us!" she spilled excitedly.

"Piper, I think we all already know how you feel about it. I'm asking everyone so I know how everyone feels about it." Aerrow said, looking at Finn and Junko.

"I think it's a great idea! She's pretty slick, she'd be awesome to have around!" Finn declared after roughly swallowing the last of his marshmallows.

"She seems nice. And Piper's right, we can't just leave her here alone, can we?" Junko said.

Aerrow grinned. "You're sure, all of you? This is pretty big."

"I'm sure I'm sure! Aerrow, she's smart, she can fight and she'd be an all around good addition to the team! Plus, she never got to be a part of her old squadron and she wants to fight for the same reasons we do. What else could you ask for in a new squad-mate? And I like her. She needs us, Aerrow." Piper insisted.

Junko nodded in agreement and Finn made his famous six guns with his fingers and cheered "Chica-cha!"

Aerrow turned to the only one who hadn't said anything the whole time. "Stork?" he asked carefully. "What do you think of her?"

"Well, aside from the whole strangle-crazed jungle freak thing, I think she's pretty charming." The merb pilot said scathingly, his back still turned.

"Oh, lighten up, Stork, how many times is she going to have to say she's sorry?" Piper said, sounding slightly frustrated with her adopted brother.

"Once more might help, but she seems to think it's funny! Last I checked that's the first warning sign of a psychopath! And you just want to let her onto our ship? Who says she's not working for the Cyclonians?" Stork snapped, still looking firmly out the window.

"Stork!" Piper said so sharply that Stork cringed.

"Well why else would they have just left her here? Did it never occur to you that she might be lying to us for exactly this reason? She could be trying to infiltrate us and-"

"Stork, what is wrong with you?" Piper snapped and Finn took a step away from her. Piper rarely lost her temper and she'd never gotten angry with Stork before. "How can you even say that, after what she told us? Why would she go to such lengths to earn our trust when she could have killed us all in the jungle or when she had Aerrow on her skimmer or me just now! She's just like you, you know, she's lost and alone and she needs someone to take her in and look after her."

Stork's whole body stiffened and Piper put a hand over her mouth. Aerrow looked between them awkwardly. He knew Piper's family had adopted Stork, but no one had ever mentioned why. Finn was looking shamefully curious and Junko averted his eyes uncomfortably.

"Stork, I'm sorry." Piper squeaked, taking a step towards him.

"Well, if she means _that_ much to you then maybe she really should stay." Stork said in a deadly calm voice.

"Stork, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…I was just frustrated…."

"She's nothing like me."

"No, you're right, she's not." Piper said quickly, trying to patch up her mistake.

"Well _I_ certainly don't want to spoil it for you all, so if you think she'd be good to have along, then…"

"Stork, we're a team. We make decisions together. If you don't want her to be one of us, then ok, we'll just say goodbye tomorrow and be on our way." Aerrow said, not wanting the merb to feel any worse then he already did.

Stork finally turned to look at him and Aerrow wished he hadn't. He had that startlingly menacing look on his face and Aerrow had to suppress a shiver.

"_That's _not fair." he said, sounding defensive.

"I'm not trying to guilt trap you, I want to hear your honest opinion." Aerrow said, trying to sound soothing.

Stork sighed and visibly deflated. "Look, if she hadn't have tried to kill me, I'd probably say there's nothing physically wrong with her. I don't know how she's doing upstairs mind you, but that's none of my business. If you think she'd be good for us then…then that's fine with me."

"You sure?" Aerrow asked.

"Don't push it." Stork said, a ghost of a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. Or maybe it was a grimace. And without another word he stalked off down the hall to his room.

Piper watched him go, looking horribly ashamed and overjoyed at the same time.

"I didn't want to make him upset." she said quietly.

"You know something Piper? I don't think you did." Aerrow said and they all looked at him like he was crazy.

"Oh, she totally did." Finn said and Piper glowered at him.

Cliffhanger again! Thanks to everybody who reviewed, I tried to reply personally to everyone, but if I miss you then I'm sorry and thanks for your support! Oh, when does Stork wear the jingle bell hat? And if you've got the time check out Psychoticia and tell me what you think!


	4. The Storm Hawks Seven

**4**

**The Storm Hawks Seven**

**Disclaimer: I realize that this is the title of one of the upcoming actual Storm Hawks episodes, but I had a momentary lapse in creative genius and stole it. It seemed to fit the theme of the chappie. **

The next morning everything seemed back to normal on the _Condor_. Well, as normal as things could be. Aerrow had heard Piper pad past his room on the way to the kitchen earlier that morning and now Stork was sitting at the table across from her easily, next to a huge stack of Sand Cakes. Aerrow smiled. It was easy to fix things with someone whose soul could be sold for Sand Cakes.

" 'Morning." Aerrow said, giving his red hair a good tousle.

Piper jumped to her feet the moment she saw him, making Stork start at her abruptness. "Aerrow, finally you're up! Let's go get Wing!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm excitedly.

"Whoa, whoa, down girl!" Aerrow said with a grin. "Let's wait for the others to get up first, so we can all ask her together."

Piper let out an anguished cry. "But Aer-rooow!" she whined, knowing how long Finn and Junko could sleep for, especially if they'd been up half the night roasting marshmallows and singing loud, rowdy campfire songs.

"You could always speed up the waking process." Stork suggested around a mouthful of Sand Cake, eager to be off the strange Terra and back in the air.

"You evil genius, you! Too bad I'd already thought of that." Piper said with a wicked little grin and vanished into the kitchen. A moment later she was marching down the halls, clashing two pan lids together, singing loudly and stomping on the floor explosively. Stork put his hands over his sensitive ears and grimaced.

Finn came staggering from his room after Piper's second pass, hair even more messy then usual. "Piper!" he shouted at her and she stopped her racket innocently.

"Yes?" she asked, giving him a "who, me?" look.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" he demanded peevishly.

"Oh, quit whining. It's time to get up and go get Wing! Remember, black haired girl, kinda short…"

"Don't forget psychotic!" Stork called and Piper scowled at him.

"Anyways, Aerrow says we can only go when we're _all_ up, so, you know, GET UP!" Piper said with another resounding clash.

"Oh, yeah, _you're_ not totally obsessed." Finn said, dragging himself down the hall to the bathroom.

Junko tripped out of his room groggily then, rubbing his head. "What's going on?"

"Wake up call! Come on, get ready, we're going to go get Wing!" Piper said, taking the pot lids back to the kitchen.

"Oh, right! On it!" Junko said, turning and nearly plowing over Finn, who was slouching back to his room.

"Whoops, sorry buddy. Why the long face?" Junko asked upon seeing Finn's scowling visage. Junko didn't seem to understand that he was the only one who could be so cheerful after such a rude awakening and about five hours worth of sleep.

About ten minutes later they were all in the air, gliding across the cool morning sky towards the lonely hill where Wing's house perched.

Seated behind Piper edgily, Stork glanced in snatches out over the jungle. He supposed it wasn't so sinister when you weren't wading through it. It wasn't as bad as the Black Gorge, anyways. Maybe it was even sort of-

A yowl erupted from the trees below them and a black missile shot up past Piper's scooter. Stork let out an alarmed shout and nearly tumbled over the side. She grabbed hold of his thin arm to steady him and smiled after the panthera.

"Falshade!" she called and the winged cat growled in greeting. He glided over and hovered next to Piper's scooter, his hindquarters rising and falling with every stroke of his finely honed wings. He sniffed curiously at Stork, who was panting and clutching to the side of the heliscooter's seat in a death-grip.

"Oh, go away!" he said exasperatedly, shoving the large cat's face away. Piper giggled.

"Aw, he likes you, Stork." she said teasingly and he huffed, annoyed.

"He's got a funny way of showing it." he grumbled. Piper just smiled to herself and brought her scooter in for a landing on Wing's plateau.

Wing was already awake and in the act of rolling her skimmer out of the garage when they came down. She smiled widely when she saw them.

"I was getting worried that you guys were just going to go without saying goodbye! I was gonna stop by." she said when they were close enough to hear her.

"We wouldn't do that. We just had some trouble getting everybody up." Piper said, nodding in Finn's direction.

"No problem. You want some breakfast? I was thinking of making pancakes…" Wing said, turning to roll her skimmer back into the garage.

Finn opened his mouth but Aerrow held up a hand to silence him. "Actually, Wing, we wanted to ask you something."

Wing stopped and turned back to look at him. "Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"Well, um…" Aerrow fiddled with his belt awkwardly. "I wanted to know…we all wanted to know if that when we leave today…well, when we leave today if you want to come with us." Wow, so much for sentimentally.

Wing's eyes widened slightly. "Come with you?" she asked as if she wanted to make sure she understood what he meant before she gave an answer.

"Yes, come with us and stay with us. Join our squadron. Become a Storm Hawk." Piper said her vice squeaky with anticipation.

Wing looked at all of them carefully, as if waiting for them to burst out laughing and say "Got you!". But you could see in her eyes that she wanted to believe them. Brittle hope was brimming in her eyes.

"You… you mean it?" she asked, sounding guarded.

"Of course we do!" Piper said.

"But I'm not official or anything." Wing said, trying to find a flaw in their plan it seemed.

"To be honest, neither are we." Finn said.

"Where would I stay?"

"With me, in my room." Piper declared.

"We'll work everything out later." Aerrow added. "Right now we just want to know if you want to join us or not. We'd understand if you'd rather stay here."

Wing's eyes stretched so wide they were in danger of popping out of her head. "Are you kidding? Stay here?" she looked at her empty house for a moment and then shook her head. "I've stayed here too long."

"So… so does that mean you'll come with us?" Piper asked, trying to contain her glee.

Wing looked at her with a smile that nearly took to her ears. "I'd love to! I mean… wow, be a _real_ Storm Hawk with you guys, no joke?"

"No joke" Aerrow assured her and she looked like she was restraining herself not to run over and hug him. She didn't have to, because Piper went over and hugged her instead.

"This is going to be so great!" she said. "Wing, you'll love living with us, you'll fit right in! We can train together and I can teach you some stuff about crystals and I just know you're going to be a great Storm Hawk!"

Wing looked a little overwhelmed and completely overjoyed. "Oh, I will, I'll be the best damn Storm Hawk you ever found in the jungle!" she promised eagerly. "I can fight, I can fly, I'll help out on the ship, I'll do whatever you say!"

Aerrow held up his hands to slow her down. "That won't be necessary. We Storm Hawks are a family, not a crew."

Wing nodded. "Right, right, but when you need a hand doing anything, I'll be there… oh, wow, this is so awesome! I've wanted to be a part of a squadron my whole life, but when I lost the Strykers, I never thought I'd ever be in one! You can't imagine how badly I wanted to come with you, but I never thought you'd ask!" she was rambling, she realized, so she shut her mouth and then glanced over at Falshade, who was reclining lazily in a sunbeam. "Oh. What about Falshade?"

"He'll just have to come along too." Aerrow declared and Stork made a strange noise somewhere in between a gag and a whine.

Wing did hug him this time and it nearly knocked him over. She was solid, all hundred odd pounds of her.

"Thank you all, so much!" she said, and she hugged the others too, nearly getting crushed by Junko. She even hugged Stork, who choked and tried to pull away from her. She just smiled and hugged Piper again.

"You're sure you want me along?" she asked, suddenly wary. "I'm not going to make things awkward or anything, am I? You guys seem to have a pretty tight team, I don't want to get in the way."

"You won't. We want you to come with us, all of us." Aerrow assured her.

"Even Stork." Finn added and Wing laughed as Stork scowled at him.

"This is just so… I've got nothing to say, actually, but I'm so happy you asked me! You won't regret it I promise!" Wing assured them, putting a fist over her heart to seal the promise.

"Come on, I'll help you get your stuff ready, if you want." Piper offered. Wing bobbed her head in agreement and looped an arm through Piper's as they turned for the house. They didn't skip or anything, but they did start singing some song about being off to see a wizard.

Finn shook his head. "Girls. It's ok if _they _touch each other, but when you try _anything_…hey, Aerrow, do you think it's a good idea to let them share a room? They're getting pretty…close." He was smirking by the end, not looking at all concerned.

"Finn, I advise you not to let them hear you say that." Aerrow suggested.

"All I'm saying is don't let them be alone together too much… unless you've got a camera." Finn said and earned a smack across the back of the head from both Aerrow and, surprisingly, Stork.

"Come on, let's see if she needs our help." Aerrow said sternly

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wing's room was like a secret room in a forgotten tower. To get to it you had to first navigate you way to the door on the second floor that led up a narrow flight of rickety steps. At the top of those stairs sat the attic, and located in a remote corner was a set of twisted metal stairs that brought you to the bottom of a trap door. It was there that Wing resided.

The room itself was rounded with a domed ceiling, ringed with skylights. A large patch of the outside wall was a giant window, which let the inhabitant of the room have a gorgeous view of the sprawling jungle. A narrow mattress was tucked cosily against the opposite wall from the window, but aside from that there wasn't much furniture. A shelf with a few books, a soft looking window seat beneath the expanse of glass and an old wardrobe. There was also a stack of boxes off to the side, but Piper didn't feel like asking about them. They probably contained some of the same things as the trunk in the garage. She was mostly enchanted by the window.

"Wow, this is you room?" she asked, moving toward the window to look out over the jungle.

"Yep. This used to be my Mom's favourite room in the house. It's kinda sparse, but I'm not in here too often anyways." Wing said.

Piper sat down on the window seat, imaging Wing's sick mother looking out from this same spot at the world she was away from too often. If Wing was anything like her mother then she must have loved the outdoors and the beauty of the world. What a terrible choice to have to make: Risk going out into the sun and catching some sort of sickness that could mean your death or staying inside and slowly let your spirit die. It was heartbreaking to comprehend, let alone live with.

Wing was tugging a large, thin trunk out from under her bed. "I feel like I'm in a daze." she was saying. "I really can't believe this. When I knew you guys were going to be leaving today… oh, god I didn't now what I was going to do. It wasn't just that you were the first people I've spoken to in years either. Just, something about all of you…the way you seemed like a family, the way you were all so nice to me, despite that fact that I'd attacked you. And they way you seemed to care about me, about what had happened to me before. It struck me. You guys are special, you know. I feel like I've known you all my life, I feel like I can trust you. When you all were around, I felt… like I was safe, like I was home." Wing ended with a soft laugh. "I probably sound crazy. You barely know me."

Piper was watching her carefully. "You don't sound crazy to me."

Wing looked at her intensely. "It means so much to me that you want to take me along. I'll never be able to thank you enough."

"You don't have to. We're squadron now."

Wing smiled. She liked the sound of it. She turned back to her trunk and opened the lid. "I don't have too many belongings. Is your room going to be big enough for both of us?"

Piper laughed. "I don't know. We'll work something out. I think we've got a spare bunk that we can get Junko to attach to the wall. We can take turns having top bunk."

Wing nodded eagerly. "This is gonna be so great! We can stay up late, telling ghost stories!" she paused and looked at Piper honestly. "I've never had a friend who was a girl before. It was always just me and my brothers."

"Same here. I love my boys, I wouldn't leave them for anything, but I get a little lonely sometimes, you know?" Piper said, sitting on Wing's bed.

"Exactly! You gotta have someone who's the same…species as you." Wing said, choosing not to use gender and finding it sounded better that way. She and Piper laughed.

"It'll be like a permanent sleep over!" Piper said. She grimaced. "We can do each other's hair!"

Wing pulled a face. "Yeah, right after we give each other a manicure."

"Don't forget make-overs!" Piper added, and they both gagged at that one.

"Oooooooh, and we've just _got_ to tell each other about our true loves!" Wing said and they cackled like lunatics.

"And we can have pillow fights!" Piper cried just as Stork poked his head up over the edge of the trapdoor.

Wing waved at him. "Hey, Stork, want to share diet tips with us?"

"If by diet you mean this," Piper said and mimed sticking a finger down her throat. Wing fell off her bed, she was laughing so hard.

"Um, ok, I think I'll be leaving." Stork said turning to go.

"Was there something you wanted?" Wing asked, wheezing and still lying on the floor.

"I just wanted to see where you two had gotten to. I'd like to leave as soon as possible, this place is definitely not doing wonders for my rash. Must be the air…"

"We were packing. Come on up, if you want." Wing said and Stork uneasily climbed the rest of the way into her room.

"Like the décor?" Wing asked, motioning to the walls, which were completely blank.

"Impeccable taste. Finn's tearing apart your kitchen, by the way."

"Ah well, not like I'll be needing that food anymore, right?" Wing rolled over and got up. She picked up her trunk a second time and went over to the wardrobe while Stork looked around nervously.

"Did you see the view from the window, Stork? I wish my room could have a window like that." Piper said enviously.

"Well, if you want your whole room to be made of glass… and it's not like _that_ isn't a safety hazard. I mean, just on good sized hailstone and you're sliced into ribbons. Nothing wrong with that."

"Thanks for looking out for my well being." Piper said cheerfully. "Um, Wing, what about those boxes there? Was there anything you wanted out of there?"

Wing glanced towards them. 'To be honest, I haven't looked through those in ages. You want to help me sort through 'em?"

"Er, sure, if you don't mind." Piper said, shuffling over next to the boxes and taking the top most one down to start looking. "What kind of things are you looking for?"

Wing ungraciously dropped her trunk and sat on her knees next to Piper. "A lot of this is just old stuff I couldn't get rid of. If it looks worthless just put it off to the side. Anything like, I dunno, photos maybe, could you make a pile just there? This was all stuff I was going to sort and put in that chest you saw outside, but to be honest I couldn't finish. I think I got depressed for a while and then I just never got around to finishing it."

Piper nodded and began carefully extracting things from one box while Wing got to work on another. Piper was worried she might put something in the "worthless" pile and find out it was actually quite important, so she ended up putting almost everything into one pile. There was a lot of old photographs and she tried not to let her eye linger on them too long for fear of seeming nosey. There were also some more books, a couple certificates of achievement, a small wooden box filled with different, brightly coloured beads and a worn old sketch book. Piper couldn't help but flip through it. She was amazed by the skill and effort that were put into each drawing. They were flawless and beautiful.

"Who drew all of these?" Piper asked.

"Vallen. He had my Mom's hair and her artistic ability. Those were some of his out in the chest." Wing pulled out another sketch book from her box. "This is hers."

Piper compared two drawings and could pick out similarity and differences in the style. They were both gorgeous, though. Piper flipped quickly through Wing's mother's book and found an absolutely stunning picture of a handsome man in profile, who had an expression of both deep thought and exuberance on his fair face.

Wing glanced over. "That's my Mom's favourite sketch. She said it was the best she'd ever done."

"Who is it in the drawing?"

"My Dad." Wing said proudly.

Piper nodded and put both sketch books in the keeper pile. She jumped as something sharp floated past her face and realized Stork had come crouched next to her. He was holding a necklace with a wicked looking fang dangling between two dark blue beads.

"What's this?" he asked, looking hypnotized.

"Oh, that was Farren's. He used to say that the fang was from a baby dragon and when I was younger I believed him. It's from a python, really. That necklace was his lucky charm, but that kid was just all around lucky. I think he had more scars then any of the rest of us. His luck ran out eventually, though." Wing looked at the way Stork was watching the fang swing back and forth. "You can have it, if you want."

"Huh? Oh, no way, I couldn't." Stork thrust the necklace at her. "It's not my…colour."

Wing laughed and accepted the necklace, slipping it over her own neck instead.

It took the three of them little under and hour to sort through all the boxes. Wing bundled up everything she wanted to take with her into one box and set it on top of her trunk. Then she scanned her room one last time as if saying goodbye.

"I guess this is it." She said, looking thrilled and nervous at the same time. "You wanna know something weird? I've never been off this Terra in my life. It's going to be strange saying goodbye to it."

"Never?" Piper gawked.

"Nope."

"Great, we've saddled up with an amateur." Stork said.

"Hey, Twitchy, I might not have been off this rock, but I'm not an amateur." Wing assured him offensively.

"We'll let the Cyclonians decide that." Stork said without thinking. Piper inhaled sharply and Stork wanted to hit himself. Wing's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Oh yeah, they'll decide alright." she growled. "When I lop their heads from their shoulders…" she snapped her neck irritably and stepped past Stork. She jammed the box under her arm and grasped the handle of the trunk with the opposite hand. "Come on, let's see what damage's been done to my kitchen."

Stork winced at Piper and she gave him a "good going, genius" look and followed Wing down the stairs. Stork sighed and hurried after them, nearly tripping over his own mutated feet on the curling staircase.

Finn had indeed torn apart the kitchen, with Junko and Radarr's help. Piper slapped a hand over her face when she saw the mess. Finn just waved.

"Thought you might need some help emptying the fridge." he said casually, waving a drumstick in demonstration.

"Hey, if you can't smell it, eat it, that's what I always say." Wing said, heading for the outside door. "Help yourselves." she called upon exiting the house.

"You better clean all this up before we go, Finn." Piper said sternly, hands on her hips. "Your lucky Wing's so generous. If it were _my_ house…"

"Yeah, but we aren't." Finn pointed out.

"Where's Aerrow?" Piper asked exasperatedly.

"I think he went outside." Junko said.

Aerrow was outside as they spoke, looking out over the jungle from the highest point on the plateau. Wing came up behind him so quietly he didn't know she was there until she brushed his side.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said, gazing out in the direction he was looking over the jungle, which was bathed in the orange/ violet glow of the rising sun. A few brave stars still shone boldly over the canopy and then there was pure empty sky as far as the eye could see.

Aerrow nodded. "It sure is. I can see why your father picked this Terra to start a family on." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You're sure you want to leave it?"

Wing took a deep breath as if taking in as much of the jungle air as she could and let it out. "I'll come back, one day. I've stayed here too long, alone, I think. There's still a war going on out there, and I've got a role to play in it yet."

Aerrow clasped her shoulder in a comradely way. "Spoken from a true warrior." he said and Wing smiled.

"Brotherhood of the Wing." she said in agreement, even though Aerrow still wasn't exactly sure what that meant.

"Hey you two!" Piper called from the house. "Are you ready to get going?"

"You all packed?" Aerrow asked Wing.

"Yep, yep, yep, I'm all set. Do you guys need any crystals? I've got tons back in the garage, we might as well take them with us." Wing said, heading down the hill towards the house, calling the last part out to Piper.

"Let's have a quick look then!" she answered and the three of them ducked into the barn.

Wing did have a large assortment of crystals just collecting dust: green and blue Strikers, Blazers, Swarm crystals, a handful of Icers, some Mist crystals, a ton of Fuel crystals and a dusty old Solaris crystal.

"You can have 'em." Wing said, taking an old satchel off a shelf and shoving in a few Strikers and Blazers. "I only use these ones anyways."

"Great! Thanks, Wing!" Piper said, placing the crystals carefully in the box that until recently had held Wing's family's old belongings.

Stork came over to them then, looking truly in pain. "Are you planning on leaving sometime this week? I think I just got stung by some weird looking wasp… probably allergic to the venom…"

"Black or purple stripes?" Wing asked, heading over to her skimmer.

"Uh…" Stork faltered. He hadn't been counting on anyone actually taking an interest. He felt like Wing was trying to call his bluff. "Why?"

"Oh, well, I was just wondering… I suppose you'll be alright if it was just the black kind…those purple ones though…" Wing shook her head and loaded her small trunk and the chest with the Stryker insignia onto the back of her skimmer.

"What about them?" Stork breathed, eye twitching like mad.

"Maybe it's better if I don't tell you." Wing said dramatically, throwing a wink at Piper and Aerrow as she rolled her ride out past them.

Stork was now looking at his arm as if he expected it to fall off at any given moment. Piper and Aerrow shared a smile as they followed Wing out of the garage. Finn, Junko and Radarr were waiting for them, already straddling their skimmers.

Aerrow climbed onto his converter next to Radarr. Wing was giving her house one last look, and then she turned to look briefly at the row of headstones.

"I'll make you all proud." Aerrow heard her whisper as she kicked her engine into life. "Goodbye." She glanced around and whistled to Falshade, who was eating something.

"Moving out, Big Guy." she told him. "Lead the way, Aerrow."

Aerrow nodded and took off into the air again, heading back the way they'd come. He glanced back to make sure the others were following and as he looked over the plateau he could have sworn he saw nine shadowy figures waving from the side of the barn. He blinked and they were gone and he supposed it must have been a trick of the light. But deep inside he couldn't help but wish, for Wing's sake that it wasn't.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stork started up the _Condor_ and let out a huge, relaxed sigh. Oh yeah, this was good. This was what he was meant to do. He never felt more at home anywhere then he did behind the helm of the ship. With a rumbling as familiar as his own breathing the _Condor_ lifted from the ground and into the air where she belonged.

"We're heading due East." Piper said from her place at the table and Stork nodded and pulled the controls slightly in that direction. Whenthe _Condor_ wasn't acting up or plummeting from the sky she handled pretty easily, contrary to most of her crew's belief.

As the jungle dropped out of sight beneath them Stork let his eyes slide over to where Wing was standing by the window, looking down at her homeland as it disappeared from view. Falshade was standing beside her and growled softly, maybe even comfortingly and Wing rubbed his head briefly before wiping the back of her hand across her eyes. She sniffled quietly and then must have felt Stork's eyes on her because she glanced in his direction. She smiled bravely and gave him the thumbs up and he quirked the side of his mouth in acknowledgement before breaking eye contact and starring at his arm where he wasn't sure if he'd been stung by some deadly jungle wasp or not.

**I tried to make it shorter, but it's hard for me! The story picks up in a couple chapters, don't worry! I had to get some stuff out of the way first. Thanks for all the reviews!**


	5. One of the Tribe

**5**

**One of the Tribe**

**Also wanted to call this one "Welcome to the Jungle" but there's another story that's already got used that one. Ah well. Anyways, this chapter's kinda of a bunch of drabbles all put together about Wing settling in. Hope you like it!**

Aerrow had been worried that Wing may have some trouble fitting in to life on the _Condor_. I mean, she'd lived for years by herself in the jungle, how was she supposed to make the transition to suddenly being among people again and confined by the walls of an air ship?

As it were, he needn't of worried.

Wing did get a little twitchy. That was unavoidable. You could take the girl out of the jungle, but you couldn't take the jungle out of the girl. But she settled in fine in only two days.

At first she'd been quiet and tense, jumping up to help with anything that needed to be done on the ship. She seemed to be worried that they might be looking for excuses to get rid of her. At first whenever Finn directed a witty remark her way she'd just taken it with good humour, laughing at herself and keeping her mouth shut. After some prodding from Piper, however, she'd started to retaliate, enjoying the little squabbles she got into with Finn. She helped Piper out in kitchen without even having to be asked and she would practically leap to the side if she thought she was in someone's way.

Falshade made himself at home almost instantly, although he did pace a lot. He'd leave via the run way whenever he pleased and he'd return later that day like he'd never been away, usually stretching out on the run way with some sort of bloody corpse or another. When he wasn't off doing his own thing he liked to doze in the sunny spots of the bridge, much to Stork's dismay. He'd tripped over the big cat three times already when Falshade had crept silently up behind him and fallen asleep in a sun beam directly behind Stork's feet.

The only thing that had really worried Aerrow about the panthera was how he and Radarr would get along now that they had to share the territory that was the _Condor_. Once again, he needn't have worried. After only two short hours Radarr and Falshade were getting along like they were brothers. Well, brothers that liked to annoy the Hell out each other. Radarr's favourite new pastime was a game Stork called "See How Many Times You Can Pull the Savage Beast's Tail before You Get Eaten" or for short, "Suicide". How it was played was simple: Radarr would wait until Falshade had fallen asleep and then creep up on the large cat and wait until it would be least expected and, naturally, pull his tail. Radarr seemed to think it was hilarious, but Stork wasn't very fond of it, mainly because Radarr liked to climb onto his shoulders whenever Falshade would get to his feet.

On the second day after they had left Wing's Terra, Piper and Finn got into another argument over the record player. Aerrow knew their lines by heart now, and he and Junko were entertaining themselves by mouthing Piper and Finn's parts behind their backs. Piper must have seen them out of the corner of her eye because her eyes narrowed and she decided to stir things up a bit.

"I have an idea." she said suddenly. "Let's listen to one of Wing's records."

"Huh?" Wing said from where she'd been playing chess by herself (Piper had abandoned the game to fight with Finn).

"You've got records. I saw them in your trunk." Pier said, she and Finn trying to stare each other down.

"Oh, you guys don't want to listen to my records." Wing said quickly.

"Why not?" Finn said, losing interest in Piper and turning to Wing.

Wing twitched her nose awkwardly. "You just don't."

"Probably a bunch of girly music." Finn jeered. That got her.

"What?" she barked indignantly.

"Yup, probably just a bunch of cute boy bands." Finn taunted, enjoying himself.

"Oh, we'll see about that." Wing whisked off down the hall towards hers and Piper's room and was back a moment later, thrusting a stack of records at Finn, muttering "I'll boy band _you_..."

Finn smirked to himself as he flipped through her records. He looked unsure about which one to pick so he just picked on randomly and stuck it in the player.

"What kind of music _do_ you listen to?" Piper asked her, looking hopeful. She nearly jumped out her skin when a blast of sound erupted out of the speakers.

A silly grin plastered itself all over Finn's face. "Oh _yeah_!" he said, turning the volume up louder.

"Oh no." Piper groaned.

Wing folded her arms triumphantly. "I don't do boy bands."

That was the day Wing officially became a Storm Hawk.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the fourth morning after Wing had joined them that Piper got up to make breakfast and found someone already doing it. Wing had all four burners going on the stove top and was making enough pancakes to feed an army. She was in the act of juggling eggs when Piper walked in.

"Wing?" Piper said, causing the other girl to jump. All five eggs hit the floor with a resounding splat.

"'Morning." Wing said sheepishly, quickly scooping the egg shells off the floor.

"What are you doing?"

"Practicing my circus act?"

Piper laughed. "No, I mean the pancakes."

"Oh, these. I thought I'd make breakfast, to give you a break. And I had a craving for pancakes."

"I see. Yeah, I don't make pancakes much, it takes too long to make enough to feed us all. I prefer things that are quick and in large quantities, like porridge." Piper explained.

Wing nodded. "I know that feeling. I grew up in a house full of boys, remember."

Piper smiled. "Well, now that I'm up, you want some help?"

"Cwitenly," Wing said with a grin, flipping a pancake with perfect form.

They had a lot of fun competing to see who was the best flap-jack flipper. Only about seven pancakes ended up on the floor. Ok, maybe ten. Thirteen. Fine, seventeen, but who was keeping count?

Stork stuck his head into the kitchen on his way to the bridge and oogled the towering stack of pancakes. "Are we expecting company or are you two just pregnant?" he asked.

Wing and Piper both rounded on him at the same time.

"Point taken." he said and left in a rush.

"Do you think that's enough?" Wing asked Piper a few minutes later, after they'd built a miniature Leaning Tower of Pisa.

"Oh, probably not." Piper said, but they turned off the range and set the table anyways.

"Pancakes!" Finn crowed, practically pouncing on them when he walked into the kitchen a half an hour later.

"I love you guys!" Junko said, dropping into a nearby chair and taking five pancakes from the stack, looking like Christmas had come early.

"You two were busy." Aerrow commented, eyeing the stack of pancakes incredulously.

Stork hopped in then on one foot, thrusting the other one at Wing and Piper. Egg yolk was oozing down his misshapen foot. "_Please_ tell me that is an egg and _not_ miscellaneous goo that is a sure sign we have an infestation of Muck Suckers."

"Oops, must have missed that one. It's just an egg." Wing assured him.

"_Why_ was it on the floor? Do you know _easy_ it is for Salmonella to spread that way?"

"Only if you have a fetish with licking floors. I dropped it, I was, um… juggling" Wing ended, looking sheepish again. The others just laughed while Stork pulled a face and sat down dejectedly, pouring bottle green syrup over a pancake.

"That looks like snot." Finn declared.

Stork made an exasperated noise and looked heaven-ward. "Can I not just eat my breakfast in peace?" he implored.

"Nope." Wing said simply and Stork watched in disgust as she dumped half a gallon of syrup onto her pancakes.

"I don't want to be anywhere near you when that hits your system." he said repulsively.

"Oh, be quiet and eat your snot." Wing said unabashedly, digging in to her pancakes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was an odd spectacle. A Wallop and a panthera, boxing partners.

It became a game for the two of them. Falshade would rear up on his hind legs and swat at Junko's fists with his mighty paws (claws sheathed, of course). Junko would block him, laughing like a maniac. The aim of the game was to try and score a hit on the other. It usually ended quickly though, because Falshade couldn't keep his balance for more then a minute. On one occasion he tried to outlast Junko and had broke the ancient law about cats always landing on their feet; he fell backwards and landed most ungracefully on his back. He slunk away after that, his pride wounded more then any physical injuries. Junko and Falshade became tight friends though, and at times Falshade would show his affection by leaping onto Junko's broad back and butt his head against the Wallop's. Only Junko could hold up the cat's weight, which was a stunning three hundred pounds. Stork found this out the hard way. He'd become the target of Falshade's mischief, especially after all the times he'd tripped over him. The stealthy black cat had snuck up behind him on the fourth day while said Merb had been on his way to get himself some sand cakes before Radarr could get a hold of them all. Aerrow had come running when he'd heard Stork's strangled cry of alarm to find a sight to be hold. Stork was pinned flat beneath Falshade, who was licking a paw and purring contentedly.

"Hey, Stork. Cat got your tongue?" Aerrow couldn't help but laugh.

"Oooh, you're a riot. Seriously, you should be a comedian." Stork wheezed, sarcasm lost because he couldn't breathe properly. Falshade growled and drew his rough tongue over the back of Stork's head in one long swipe.

"Yuuuuck! Ahh! Disease! Contamination!" Stork cried, struggling.

"Come here, Falshade." Aerrow called and the jungle feline came over and brushed his side with a purr. Stork leapt to his feet and Aerrow's mouth quirked dangerously. Stork's usual backward spike of hair now resembled a curled cow-lick.

"Germs! Raw meat! Need shower!" Stork choked, rambling senselessly and taking off for the bathroom. Aerrow looked at the winged panther and shrugged and Falshade seemed to shrug back.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That evening Finn, Radarr and Junko discovered that Wing was insanely amazing at Poker.

"Do you have a horse shoe up your ass or something?" Finn groaned, watching Wing rake in another armful of poker chips. He'd challenged her on purpose, thinking she'd be horrible. He was paying for it now.

"I'm just plain lucky, kiddo." Wing said, grinning evilly.

"Aerrow, help us!" Junko pleaded. "This is for all men everywhere!"

"Oh, the humanity! Losing to a girl!" Piper said, throwing a hand over her forehead dramatically. "So let's do what all men do when they start to lose and gang up on her!"

"Hey!" said the entire male population of the _Condor_ who were capable of speech. For their parts, Radarr and Falshade growled objectively.

"I'm getting in on this." Piper said, taking up a seat beside Wing. Aerrow couldn't let that last remark slide so he pulled a seat over in between Radarr and Finn, even though the were both notorious cheaters. Even Stork had to make a stand for his pride and sat uneasily next to Junko.

Junko, being the most honest and pure hearted of the group, dealt the cards so nobody could say the cards were rigged. And then it began.

"I'm in, two chips." Finn said, tossing two chips into the center of the table. Aerrow tossed in two chips as well, and so did Radarr. Junko starred at his cards for a long time until Stork started to drum his fingers on the table impatiently.

"It's a six, you've got it upside down." he said finally.

"Ah, then I fold." Junko said and Stork rolled his eyes.

"I'm in." he said, pushing two chips over carefully.

Wing thunked two chips into the pool and Piper wiggled her eyebrows slyly.

"I'll see your two, Finn, and I raise it two more." Piper said, scattering four chips into the middle.

"Ooooooooooooh, tough girl." Finn said. "I'll see that one."

Aerrow twitched his nose. He didn't have a good hand. He'd beat Piper next round. "I fold."

Radarr tossed his chips in and so did Stork. Wing calmly dropped her chips into the pool, her face giving away nothing. Piper raised the pot a second time, and then a third time. By the fourth round everyone except Wing had less then four chips left.

"I'm calling it." Finn said. "What'd'ya got, Radarr."

Radarr dropped his cards confidently, showing off three tens and two sevens.

"Nice full house, fuzz-bucket. Too bad mine beats it." Piper said, flipping her cards over to reveal three queens and two nines.

"Oh, Piper, you are a bluffer. Check out this, baby. Four aces! Finn takes all!" cheered Finn, waving them in her face.

"Finn takes nothing." Wing corrected him, shoving her cards under his nose.

"Ah, no! What the Hell!" Finn cried, yanking his own hair and gawking at her straight flush.

"Yes!" Piper cheered, thrusting a fist into the air while Aerrow and Junko groaned.

"Hold it!" Stork said suddenly, jumping up as Wing reached for the pool.

"Yes! Stork! What'd ya got? Come on, this is for all mankind!" Finn said, leaping over next to Stork, who flinched away.

"Don't crowd him!" Aerrow said, perking up.

"Wai-ting." Wing sang.

Stork was smiling in that creepy way of his. "What's that your straight ends with?" he cackled.

"A seven." Wing said, keeping her cool.

"Yes!" Finn said, punching his own fist in the air.

"Stork…?" Piper squeaked.

Stork dropped his cards and Piper's jaw dropped in disbelief. King, last queen, jack, last ten and nine. All spades.

"Oh damn." she croaked.

"That's right! Take that! In your face, girlies!" Finn said, dancing around like a lunatic. Stork had to smirk.

"Game ain't over yet, Bucko. Sit down." Wing said coolly, scooping up the cards and starting to shuffle.

"Sore lo-ser! Men one, women zero!" Finn declared.

Wing coughed obviously. "May I not remind you of the…six, seven, eight rounds I've won already?"

"We start fresh when we get new players." Finn insisted.

Piper and Wing snorted in the way that only stubborn, "we-know-we're-right" girls can snort.

"Best two out of three, then." Wing said confidently, dealing the cards.

Nobody had enough chips to go past the first round, and everybody stayed in, all shooting crafty glares at each other from over their cards.

"Alright, Junko, you start." Finn said, because Junko looked like he was going to blow up if he didn't show off his cards right then.

"I got a straight flush!" he shouted, throwing down his cards for all to see.

"No way!" Finn cheered. Stork smacked a hand to his face.

"Yeah, no way. Junko, you've got a _diamond_ in there."

"Huh? Aw, crap." Junko sat down dejectedly. "Ok, just a straight then."

"Eyes like a hawk, eh?" Aerrow said, punching his shoulder affectionately. "Don't worry, dude, I got the other diamonds." he dumped his card onto the table, showing off a four, two, seven, jack and ace of diamonds.

Radarr chirruped and showed Aerrow his flush, which had an ace of spades, and jack of spades and….

"Damn it!" Aerrow said, glaring at Radarr's eight of spades.

"Come on, Finn, let's see what you got." Junko said.

"I'd rather not. I got screwed this round."

"Oh, reeeeeeally." Piper jeered. "Come on, Finn, you got to show us."

Finn sighed. "Goodbye, dignity." he said and Stork snorted and tried to pass it off for a cough at the same time, making an obvious hack-snort noise.

"You haven't even seen them yet!" Finn said reproachfully, not understanding that that wasn't what Stork was laughing about.

"Sorry, tickle in my throat…better now, do continue." Stork said, waving a hand.

Finn shut his eyes and dropped his cards. Piper laughed and Aerrow had to fight the smile off his face.

"High card, jack." Finn moaned.

"Ouch, you got burned on that one." Wing said. "I got a full house, two eights and three sixes."

"Of course _you_ got three sixes." Aerrow said with a grin.

"Ha ha! Your devil numbers can't stand up against my four fives and a ten!" Stork goaded, looking more animated then they'd ever seen him. Finn and Junko drew their elbows back, fists clenched victoriously. Piper, however, started to giggle like she was being tickled.

"What?" Stork asked, triumphant grin slipping.

"Score one for the ladies." Piper said, laying down her cards to show off four healthy nines and one of the remaining eights.

"Woo-hoo!" Wing said, wrapping an arm around Piper's shoulders and giving her a one armed hug.

"Ok, one-one." Finn said, sounding overly cocky for someone who'd had such an awful hand. "Winner of this next one takes all."

"Bring it on." Wing said, leaning back with he hands linked behind her head.

The next few moments during which Piper dealt the cards were tense and electrical. This wasn't just a friendly game of poker anymore. This had unintentionally become an impromptu battle of the sexes.

The moment Junko picked up his face fell. "I fold." he said, tossing his cards back the way they'd come.

Everyone else was in. Unfortunately Stork and Wing were the only ones with enough chips to keep going past the third round. Quite suddenly their battle of the sexes had come down to a one on one battle to the death between a Merb and a jungle girl.

Finn, Junko, Aerrow and Radarr were all peering over Stork's shoulder to catch a glimpse of their fate. Finn had to smack his hand over his mouth the keep from crying out in joy.

"Would you not do that?" Stork growled at him as he cackled gleefully in his ear.

"You've saved us all, Storky!" Finn crowed.

"Ain't over yet." Wing reminded him and gladly let Piper see her cards. Piper squealed and drummed all her fingers along the table in a motion similar to a centipede's legs. Wing tossed in five chips and put her feet on the table lazily.

"No offence, but I don't want to sit here all night and throw chips into a pool. I'm going all in." Stork said, unable to keep the delight out of his voice. There was no way she could top this. He smirked brazenly.

Wing, undeterred, made kissy-lips at him and shoved the rest of her pile forwards. Stork got suddenly jumpy and lost his focus until Finn elbowed him.

"Show 'em what you got, Stork-y." he said.

"Oh, yeah, right…" Stork muttered, flipping his cards up for the girls to see.

"Royal Flush!" Finn yowled in glee. "Take THAT! Oh yeah! Boys rule and girls drool over our good looks! That's right, cower in our excellence! You…you…" Finn faltered when he saw the smug look on Wing's face. "What?"

"I cower to no man." Wing said, laying her cards on the table. If Finn's jaw hadn't been attached to his head it would have hit the floor. Aerrow and Junko gawked and Radarr fell off Aerrow's shoulder in shock. Stork's eyes nearly rolled out of his head.

"Royal Flush beats all...except another Royal Flush!" Piper declared.

The boys all gaped in disbelief. Lying opposite Stork's royal set of rosey coloured hearts were the barbed black ace, king, queen, jack and ten of spades.

"No way…no way!" Finn choked. "I've never got a Royal Flush in my life! And there's two of them! How…how…what the Hell!"

Radarr leapt up from the floor and peered down Wing's sleeves suspiciously.

"Aw, you just can't admit that you lost." Piper taunted them, moving to shovel the mountain of chips over to the girl's side of the table.

"Oh no you don't!" Aerrow said. "Royal Flushes cancel each other out! We didn't _lose_." He hated that word.

"Then who did?" Piper asked, crossing her arms.

Silence. Then…

"I think we both did." Wing said, getting up and stretching. "Ah, well, that's horse shoes for you…anyways, I think I'm going to go to bed. Good game, ya'll." And she headed off down the hallway with Falshade.

Finn looked after her with an all strange expression on his face.

"What?" Piper asked him, collecting together the cards.

"You know something, I think I'm in love." Finn said with a sly grin. For some reason this made Stork knock over the tower of chips and sending them cascading down and scattering all over the floor.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the first week they all were so absorbed in making Wing and Falshade feel at home that it made them forget what they were really doing out here, high above the surface of Atmos. They were brought forcefully back to reality by their crackling old radio on the evening of the eighth day.

Wing's face cracked into a crafty little grin as she plotted out a fiendish manoeuvre. There was no way he was going to get her this time. She shifted her castle three squares forward, putting her plan in motion.

"There, I moved." she said, fighting to keep a straight face. She could taste victory on her lips.

Stork glanced down at the chess board and smiled knowingly. Looking back out the window he said. "Move my bishop four squares to the left."

Wing's shoulders drooped and she reached stealthily for one of Stork's bishops. Her own were lying dejectedly in a graveyard next to the board along with one of her knights and a handful of pawns.

"Ah ah ah." Stork made her freeze with her fingers stretching for the bishop without even having to look. "The other one."

"God damnit!" Wing said, dutifully moving his bishop so that it thwarted her manoeuvre. "I thought I had you that time!"

Aerrow watched their exchange from the hallway, smiling to himself. Since the poker game something had changed between Stork and Wing. Or maybe just with Stork. Before he'd sort of shut down when Wing teased him, shying away from her and looking at her like she was crazy. Now he seemed to look forward to their little banterings. It had almost become a game between the two of them, to see who could out-wit the other. It was like watching two elementary school kids who had a crush on each other and were too afraid and too young to admit it. Watching them was heart warming and painful at the same time.

Nearby Junko was boxing with Falshade, the two of them going for the best of one hundred rounds. Piper was pouring over a book at the table, humming contentedly. Finn was polishing his cross bow, occasionally singing half of one of the lines of Wing's music and waiting for her to fill in the other half. The two of them had their own theme song going by now. Wing had brought nothing but good with her aboard the _Condor_, and Aerrow was glad.

"Check." Stork said.

"Where?"

"Right there." Stork pointed with a toe to a random spot on the chess board. Wing grumbled to herself and sacrificed her other knight in order to move her king. They'd taken up playing the game like this two days ago, after Wing had gotten sick of playing by herself and went looking for an opponent. Although she was fitting in well and was of great help on the _Condor_, she still hadn't found her little niche in the workings of the crew, which left her with nothing to do for most of the day. She'd played countless games by herself on the grungy old chess board that Aerrow didn't even know they'd had. Aerrow wasn't exactly sure how it had happened, but he'd walked onto the bridge later that day to find Wing sitting cross legged on the floor of the bridge next to the controls, moving Stork's chess players where he asked her to. It was heart warming and funny at the same time and this couldn't be ignored by Finn, who was now bored of his cross bow and had honed in on a target.

Sauntering over, Finn looked over Wing's shoulder and yawned. He only liked sports where people lost money or lost teeth.

"Well, this is a real romantic first date." He drawled and Stork stiffened. "Real slick. What's next, candlelight dinner?"

"We were thinking more like a burger and then a movie, maybe followed up by a monster truck rally…" Wing said, not discomforted in the least by Finn's teasing. Her eyes widened and she looked up at Stork enthusiastically. "_Can_ we go to a monster truck rally?"

Finn laughed and gave her a nougie while Stork stared fixedly and firmly out the windshield. But Aerrow was sure he saw a tiny smile quirking at the corner of his mouth.

It was then the radio snapped and spat static at the, making them start.

"Who'd be trying to get a hold of _us_ way out here?" Finn wondered aloud, pausing in the wrestling match he'd started with Wing.

Aerrow waved a hand to get him to shush and pushed a small button next to the speaker.

"Hello?" he called over the air waves.

"Original." Finn said.

"Shhh!" Piper hissed.

The radio crackled again and Aerrow though he could hear a voice fuzz along the edges.

"Can you repeat that?" Aerrow called. The others waited nervously.

"Fzz…calling…fzzt…Sky Kni-fzzz…" a voice over the radio said brokenly.

"I'm a Sky Knight. This is Aerrow of the Storm Hawks. Who's this?" Aerrow asked and released the button to await the reply.

"Fzzzt…fzzz…Help us…fzzz….anyone help us…." the voice came again, sounding delirious and desperate.

"Who is this? Where are you calling from?" Aerrow said, urgency creeping into his voice.

"Fzzzt…this is…Mia of…fzzzt Vatican…help us…"

Aerrow glanced at his team. "Piper…how far is Terra Vatican?"

Piper quickly unrolled one of her many maps and studied it. "Three hours…we can be there tomorrow morning if we get up early…or we can change course right now."

Aerrow glanced over the others, who nodded grimly. He turned back to the radio when it suddenly spat and hissed again.

"Help us!" the voice cried on the other end, suddenly very clear. "They took them away from us…they took them all!"

Aerrow looked at the others, feeling uneasy and then pushed the button again. "We're on our way. Took what? Who did? What's happened to you people?"

The radio had gone all staticy and fuzzy again. The crew of the _Condor_ had to strain their ears to catch the next part:

"Fzzt…please help us…fzzt…ftzzzz…they took our children."

**Ohhhhhhh, cliff hanger! And another long one. I had a lot of fun with this one, hope ya'll had fun reading it! I made a couple character jumps, hopefully they're still believable… and for you hard core poker fans out there, sorry if I messed that up a bit. Lol, I originally wanted Wing to win, but then the hippie came out of me and I thought we should all be equal, man. Sticks flower in hair Three simple words: Peace, Love and French-fries, man. We follow those and we'd all just be a bunch of fat, happy people, man…**


	6. Stolen Laughter

**6**

**Stolen Laughter**

**Sorry for the wait! And again, thank you for the reviews, they always mean so much to me! I'd actually like to say something just quick, you can skip this if you want. Just a sort of dedication, really. This whole story I want to dedicate to all you fan fiction-ers out there, whether it's for Storm Hawks of for something else, whether you write them or just read them. I love fanfiction, because it lets me know there are people out there like me, who really get into certain books or shows or movies. I mean, you can love something, and then you can be like us and just get downright obsessed with it. My friends think I'm pathetic because I get so obsessed with stuff (like Storm Hawks) but I think if you love something and it makes you happy, then why should you care? I like knowing there's people out there like me, who love to write and who love something enough to make a fic about it… so here's to ya'll, the creative geniuses who are able to love something this hard and this deeply. Everyone needs to have something. To be honest I think it was Storm Hawks that knocked me out of the depression I was stuck in for months. And you guys. That's why I love to get reviews from you guys, makes me feel special…. huh, maybe I am sort of pathetic, anyways, just saying, never give up on what you love.**

**Alrighty, on with the show!**

Nobody even had to say it. As soon as the transmission was out Stork looked at Piper and she pointed in which direction they had to go. There was no way they were waiting until morning. Not after that.

A sombre silence fell over the crew of the _Condor_ as they soared toward their destination. It was unsettling, and it made them all fidget. At some point in time Junko and then Finn left the bridge, to tweak their skimmers in case of battle or maybe to get some sleep so they'd be energized and ready to fight. Piper didn't think she'd be able to sleep, and anyways, Stork needed her to guide him. They'd never been anywhere near Vatican before. It was a large Terra, but its inhabitants kept to themselves, as far as Piper knew. She wasn't even sure if they had a Sky Knight squadron or not. That was probably why they needed outside help…

"They took our children" the voice rang desperately again and again in Piper's head. She'd been to distressed Terra's before, but never had she heard of children being taken. That was a totally new level of sin. It made her feel sick.

Wing sidled over next to her, looking disturbed. "Who would take away someone's children?" she said quietly.

Piper squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "Whoever it was, we'll make them pay for it."

Wing nodded and sat down beside her. "Oof, Falshade." she said as Falshade, having like most cats a sixth sense that told them when their masters were upset, had come over to comfort her and had jumped onto her lap as if he were an average sized house cat. He bumped his head affectionately under Wing's chin, making her jaw clack together, and despite the situation, Piper had to smile.

"Falshade'll fight too." Wing said, sounding strained. "I'll almost feel sorry for any unlucky bastard who he gets a hold of."

Piper eyed the cat's powerful jaws and his razor sharp claws and didn't disagree.

Wing's chair creaked dangerously and she pushed Falshade off her. Rubbing her legs to get the feeling back in them she asked "What do you know about Terra Vatican?"

"Not much, actually. I don't think they have their own Sky Knight squadron, though, which is probably why they sent out the distress call. I wonder if anyone else heard it."

Wing looked at her. "You mean anyone like the Cyclonians?" she said.

"Exactly. I wouldn't put it past them to attack a weakened Terra. Unless they're the ones who attacked it in the first place." Piper said acidly.

Wing snapped her neck, making Stork flinch over by the controls. "I hope they are there." she said, her voice deadly. "I'll make them wish they'd never set foot on that Terra."

"You've…you've never actually killed someone before, have you?" Piper asked quietly, trying not to make her defensive.

"No. But if I have to, I will. I aim to cripple, but that's not how they play, so if I had to, I'd kill one of them without even having to think about it. Wouldn't you?"

Piper had to think about that one. She'd never really wanted to be a killer, to have someone else's blood on her hands, no matter how evil they were. But if she had to… if she was backed into a corner and she knew they'd kill her without a second thought… or one of her friends…

"I'd only do it if there was no other way." she said. "If I'd tried everything else and they were going to kill me, I'd do it."

"Let's hope you never have to be in that position, then." Wing told her with a small smile. Or maybe it was a frown. Maybe it was neither. Apparently wanting to move on from that particular topic, she added. "Let's make some tea or something. I gotta get my nerves calmed down a bit."

Piper got up with a grin. "That is so weird, I was just thinking about making tea."

Wing cackled manically and tented her fingers in a schemey sort of way. "Brillant! Already our minds are becoming one!"

Piper laughed and tousled the shorter girl's hair teasingly. "O…kay, Jungle Girl, I think it's decaf for you…"

Wing pretended to look upset as she set out some mugs and dropped the tea bags into them. Then, as if on an after thought, she poked her head back into the bridge. "Want some tea, Aerrow?" she asked considerately.

"Um, sure, if you're making it anyways…" Aerrow said. He didn't have a problem with tea, but for some reason thinking of it made him think of sticking his pinky finger in the air.

"How 'bout you, Stork-y?" Wing called and Aerrow saw Stork hang his head, clenching a fist and muttering an oath against Finn.

"I refuse to answer you until you use my proper name." he said, trying to scrape together some pride.

"Whatever. Do you want something to drink? Green tea, maybe?" Wing said, her mouth twitching. Aerrow hid his smile behind his hand.

"Oh, ha ha. Hilarious."

"Hey, I'm just trying to provide some comic relief here."

"Did it ever occur to you that I can't help what colour my skin is and you may very well have just hurt my feelings…Maugli?"

Wing blinked at him twice. "Maugli? _Maugli_? As in from the Jungle Book?"

"Oh, good, you know it."

Wing started to laugh so hard she had to hold onto the door frame for support. "Were…were you working on that one all d-day?" she choked after a little while.

"I just thought of it, actually." Stork said with a tiny grin.

"_Maugli_. I like it." Wing said, still laughing weakly. "So, tea?"

"Why not?"

Wing ducked back into the kitchen and Aerrow stared at Stork until he shifted uncomfortably. "What?" he asked defensively.

"Oh, nothing." Aerrow said, looking away with a grin.

The rest of the trip went by with sparse conversation and several mugs of tea. The hot drink was actually pretty comforting, but more then that it was something to distract them as they tried not to think of what could have happened to the distraught people of Terra Vatican. Aerrow wished that one of the others would start talking again, about something, anything. Nobody answered his silent prayers, however, until much later then he would have liked.

"Is that it?" Wing piped up suddenly, squinting out into the darkness through the windshield. Aerrow and Piper came over to join her and could make out the black smudge of a Terra on the dark horizon. Piper peered hard out the window then made a "duh" sound and ran over to her charts. "Yup, that should be it."

Suddenly the proximity alert went off, blaring and wailing in their ears as the lights flashed, their abruptness shocking them. Aerrow reached for the periscope while Wing and Piper pressed their foreheads against the glass as they hunted through the darkness for any possible signs of an oncoming air ship. They nearly jumped out of their skins when a very sleepy Finn stumbled over next to them, banging his head into the glass as he drowsily misjudged the distance. "Waz happin'?" he asked groggily.

"Somebody's decided to welcome us to the Terra." Wing said, still searching out the window.

Finn shook his head and blinked a few times and narrowed his eyes as he joined in the search. "Hey, what 'bout that?" he said, more awake now and pointing to something off to the left. Aerrow swivelled the periscope in said direction and zeroed in on the shape of an approaching skimmer.

The radio spluttered into life at that moment. "Stop there! Don't come any closer! Tell me who you are or I'll open fire!" a somewhat familiar voice said fiercely from the other end of the wave length.

Aerrow scrambled for the radio, not worried about the skimmer pilot's threat (they might as well throw rocks at the _Condor_ if they actually wanted to cause any damage) but motivated by the desperation that was bubbling beneath the surface of the stranger's voice.

"This is Aerrow of the Storm Hawks." he said into the speaker. "We picked up a distress call coming from this Terra about three hours ago."

There was a pause as Aerrow's message made its way to the stranger's radio. The others watched the smear that was the skimmer hang in the sky as they waited for a reply.

"Permission to come aboard?" the voice asked carefully, fierceness lost to pure anxiety.

"Permission granted." Aerrow said, nodding to Stork, who flipped a switch which lit up the run way below the bridge. They heard the rumbling of the skimmer's engine as it came closer, and then a slight thud as the stranger touched down none too gracefully onto the _Condor._ In the glare from the running board lights the crew of the _Condor_ saw the tires of the skimmer skid and wobble on the smooth runway. The stranger nearly careened into the side of the hanger before they got they skidded to a halt, brakes screeching and smoking. The figure promptly tumbled very unprofessionally from the skimmer as it stopped and became trapped beneath their ride.

"Finn, Wing, Piper, with me. Junko, Stork, keep an eye out for more of them." Aerrow said, leading his little group down to the hanger.

The stranger was struggling to free themselves from their skimmer as they reached the deck. They heard them cursing as they approached and were all surprised when the realized it was a woman's voice.

"Here, hang on." Wing told her and she and Finn lifted the skimmer from her legs. Piper helped her carefully to her feet.

"Are you alright?" she asked, holding the woman's shoulder to keep her steady.

"Never better." she panted. "Thanks."

"No problem. Why don't you come up onto the bridge with us for a minute?" Aerrow said, suddenly noticing something frightening about the woman. Piper noticed at almost the same moment.

"You're pregnant!" she exclaimed, clutching the woman's shoulder tighter. "You shouldn't be flying in your condition!"

The woman glanced at her guiltily. "I know, I know, but I had to come and warn you before you got too close to the Terra."

"Come up to the bridge and you can tell us more." Aerrow said, keeping close to her other side in case her legs gave out or something. Finn couldn't take his eyes off the woman's belly.

"Here, you can sit here." Piper said soothingly, helping the woman into a chair when they reached the bridge. "What's your name?"

"Mia." the woman said, glancing nervously at Stork and Junko. Having only seen the human portion of the crew, she must have been startled by the presence of a Merb and a Wallop aboard the ship.

"_You're_ the one who sent out that distress call?" Finn asked incredulously.

"Yes, that was me. Which one of you is Aerrow?" she asked, suddenly sounding suspicious.

"That's me, and this is my squadron. You don't have to worry anymore, we're here to help." Aerrow assured her.

Mia looked over the motley band of gangly teenagers cynically. "This is all of you?" she said, sounding discouraged.

"Well, what did you expect, lady, Atmos' entire Sky Knight fleet? Or maybe the Ghost Busters?" Finn said defensively.

"Finn!" Piper barked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." Mia said hurriedly. "It's just…there's so few of you, and there's so many of them…" she passed a shaky hand over her weary face.

"There may not be many of us, but we won't let you down." Aerrow promised. "We're going to do everything we can to help you and your people."

Mia smiled weakly. "Thank you, so very much."

Piper smiled at Mia encouragingly. "Let's get out of the air and down to the Terra. Then maybe you can tell us what's happened here."

Mia jumped up very suddenly for a pregnant woman and the entire male population of the _Condor_ cowered behind Aerrow as if they expected Mia's belly to go off at any second.

"You, uh…you aren't going to have that kid right here on the ship, are you?" Stork asked warily.

"Don't look so worried, my due date's not for a few months yet." Mia said with an impatient wave of her hand.

"Really?" Fin said and Aerrow elbowed him.

"Listen, you can't bring your ship in for a landing on this side of the Terra. That's what I rode out here for in the first place." Mia explained in a rush. "They've got this whole Terra under surveillance. We have to get out of here right away."

"Who's they?" Junko asked, but Piper had a more urgent question.

"Under surveillance? As in they could already know we're here?" she said, sounding squeaky.

Mia looked distraught. "I don't know, I don't think their scanners will pick up an airship from this distance… but we have to move, now."

"How are we supposed to land if they're watching the skies?" Finn asked frantically.

"There's a place, on the far side of the Terra that they don't know about. Follow me on my skimmer, I'll show you the way." Mia said, heading back towards the hanger.

"Piper and I will come with you." Aerrow said quickly, chasing after her. "Just to be safe."

Mia nodded impatiently and continued on her way back to her skimmer.

"Stork, follow behind us, and keep the lights off. The rest of you, keep watch and be ready to fight." Aerrow instructed. His crew nodded loyally and manned their stations. Piper and Aerrow hurried after Mia and took off into the brisk night air, flanking her. Piper kept a watchful eye on Mia the whole time while Aerrow was on the look out for any approaching skimmers. The _Condor_ glided along behind them like a giant black owl.

They kept a wide distance between them and the Terra, to be on the safe side. The whole time Aerrow felt like they could be attacked at any second, and it put his nerves on edge. He realized Stork had been right about flying at night; anything could sneak up on you.

They curved around the Terra and then Mia went into an unsteady descent, aiming for the cliffs. Piper gave Aerrow a questioning look and he shrugged and followed after Mia.

Abruptly Mia slowed her dive and levelled off, hovering in place and as she waited for them to even up with her.

"Just there is a large cave in the cliffside. Your ship should fit, but it'll be a tricky landing. Can your pilot handle it?"

"If he can't, nobody can." Aerrow said and flipped up the latch that covered his radio. Pressing the button he spoke into the mic. "Stork, there's a cave down here that Mia says you should be able to land the _Condor_ in. Think you can do it?"

There was a moment's silence before Stork's nasally voice crackled through the speaker. "Yeah, I can do it, but the _Condor_'s probably gonna need a new paint job…"

"Alright, then. Take it slow. We'll wait out here." Aerrow told him and angled his skimmer over to where Piper was hovering, glancing around nervously. They watched the _Condor_ with baited breath as Stork carefully reined it in towards the wall of stone. Aerrow winced as one of the pontoons squealed against the edge of the cave, but other then that Stork steered it into the hidden hanger flawlessly. Piper and Aerrow glided in after him and touched down off to the side, looking around in amazement at the huge cavern. It was lit by small, pale yellow crystals which were fitted into tiny holes all along the smooth walls. The ceiling hung at least a hundred feet above their head, stretching wide across the cave. They could have fit another five airships in here with room to spare. For a Terra with no Sky Knight squadron, they were sure prepared for a large aerial fleet.

Mia landed on the smooth stone nearby, again very inexpertly. Aerrow saw Piper flinch as she watched Mia stagger from her ride, holding her belly with one hand.

"You really shouldn't have come out on that thing." she said. "Wasn't there anyone else who could have come and warned us instead?"

Mia shook her head. "I'm one of the only one's who can actually fly."

There was a slight clang as the _Condor_'s ramp slide down to let the rest of the crew out. Radarr scuttled over to Aerrow and hopped onto his shoulder, sniffing the air around him curiously. Wing had hand on the hilt of her scimitar when she stepped off the ramp.

"You're sure whoever attacked you doesn't know about this place?" she asked Mia uneasily.

"There's no way they could know, trust me. Besides, they're all over on the other side of the Terra. Come on, I'll take you to see Master Arcadian, he'll want to see you all…"

Mia said, leading them towards a winding catwalk that disappeared into the dark ceiling.

Stork looked up apprehensively and then back towards the ship in a longing sort of way. He caught Aerrow's look though and, hunching his shoulders, followed after Finn up the narrow ledge.

At the top of the foot path they were met by the mouth of a tunnel, which led farther into the Terra. Wing stopped there and leaned over the edge slightly so she could see just how high up they were. She tugged Finn's sleeve and pointed back towards the _Condor_. "Look, I can see your house from here!" she joked.

Stork grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her none too gently away from the edge.

The tunnel sloped upward steadily and eventually Aerrow could see the starry night sky twinkling away above the heads of his friends.

Clambering clumsily out of a gap in the stones and holding aside a low growing tree branch, Mia waited for the rest of them to climb out of the tunnel.

"That is why there's no way they could know." She told Wing as she scrambled to un-wedge herself when Falshade decided he wanted to climb out at the same time she did.

Wing grunted irritably and detached herself from her broadsword so she could get herself out.

Something made a twig snap among the nearby trees. Aerrow snapped out his lightning blades and Finn swung his crossbow about wildly. Wing drew her scimitar and Piper pulled Mia back protectively behind herself and Junko.

"Falshade." Wing whispered and the cat slipped from her side with a soft growl.

A figure detached itself from the shadows apparently unaware of them at the moment. They heard him cursing before Aerrow raised a blade in his direction threateningly. "Hold it there." he commanded.

There was a humming sound as the figure suddenly drew a gleaming green blade. Finn got ready to open fire but suddenly Falshade lunged from the darkness as if the shadows themselves had come to life. He bowled the figure right over, bearing him to the ground with a roar and sending his blade flying. Unfortunately Finn's finger twitched instinctively and he shot a bolt at Falshade and his victim anyways. It narrowly missed the man's face, and when it flashed past it lit up his features.

"Thane!" Mia cried suddenly.

"You know him?" Aerrow asked.

"Yes, yes, call off the cat!"

Wing clicked her fingers and Falshade stepped off the pinned man. He got up unsteadily and was nearly knocked over again when Mia threw her arms around him.

"We thought you were one of them!" she exclaimed.

"Mia!" the strange man said, hugging her so tightly that Aerrow feared she might get crushed. Then suddenly he thrust her out to arms length angrily. "Where the hell were you!" he demanded. "We though they'd got you!"

"I went for help…" Mia motioned towards the Storm Hawks, but Thane didn't take any notice.

"Are you stupid? You heard what they said they'd do if we went for help!" he said, shaking her.

"Hey!" Piper shouted, but the man didn't appear to hear her.

Mia folded her arms stubbornly. "And what do you think they'll do if we don't get help?" she said determinedly.

"So you brought these kids?" Thane said frustratedly, waving a hand at the band of teenagers.

"Hey!" Piper said again.

"We're not kids!" Finn shouted at the same time, looking annoyed.

Thane finally glanced over them, but didn't look any happier. "How did you get a hold of them? They've bugged our communication system, you know." he said, eyes wandering over each Storm Hawk in turn, taking them in with a disapproval written all over his face.

"I know. I took the old skimmer and flew out of their range so they wouldn't pick up my transmission."

All anger came flooding back to Thane's face. "Mia! Do you know how dangerous that was, for you and the baby? What do you think Jarrett would say if he knew you'd been flying around on a flimsy old skimmer in you condition?"

"He's not going to know, is he?" Mia said, threat creeping into her voice. It struck Aerrow then that Mia and Thane were not husband and wife like he had initially thought, but were rather brother and sister.

Piper stepped in between them rather boldly then. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was under the impression that you people were in trouble. Would you prefer if we just packed up and left?"

"No!" Mia cried and Thane lost his fire. He looked over them again, this time a little more considerably. "What squadron are you? I don't think I've ever seen you insignia before."

"We're the Storm Hawks. And we may not look as old as some of the other squadrons out there, but we're just as good." Aerrow said firmly, crossing his arms and taking a tiny half stride forward to strike a more impressive pose.

"They told me they'd do everything they could to help us." Mia added. "I was taking them to see Master Arcadian before you showed up."

Thane made an irritated noise. "You had us all scared. Would it kill you to tell us were you're going before you just run off like that? You could have been captured, or worse. Don't think you're getting off this one that easily."

"That's girls for you, dude." Finn said.

"Look, we're wasting time! Thane, you can either come with us or stay out here and sulk. I'm taking them to see Arcadian." Mia said, pushing past him to and calling for the others to follow. After muttering a few choice words Thane decided to accompany them after all, after picking up his fallen sword. Aerrow glanced at it quickly as he put it back in its sheath. It was thin and flimsy and old. That thing couldn't handle heavy combat for more then a few minutes at the most. Aerrow felt bad for thinking it, but he realized that these people were push over, and it had made them targets to whoever had attacked them.

Mia led them along a foot path the stretched over a slight hill. From the top they could see down onto a clustered little city, which sprawled across the valley like a farming village. Even from here Aerrow could make out damage among the buildings and the streets, like the city had been plundered.

Wing nudged him in the ribs and pointed towards something over in the distance. Aerrow squinted and could just make out what looked like lighted spires among the hills on the dark horizon. Lights flashed here and there among them, and he wondered what that could mean.

Mia led them down the hill and into the streets of the city. It was silent, even for being at night, and it gave Aerrow the creeps. He saw Piper looking around uneasily and Stork brush a little closer to Finn, who had his finger curled around the trigger of his crossbow.

Such was the silence that when the whispering started up Aerrow could hear their words as clearly as if someone had spoken them right next to his ear.

"Who's out there?"

"Is it them? Are they back?"

"Isn't that Mia and Thane with them?"

"Do you think they're prisoners?"

"No, look, they're kids, not Vultures…"

"What's that emblem they've got on their armour?"

"Have they come to save us?"

Then somebody gave a shout and it made all but Mia and Thane jump at its suddenness.

"Mia!"

A man ran towards them then, nearly knocking her over in a crushing hug.

"Thank God! You're all right? Where have you been? I thought… I thought..."

"Jarrett, I'm alright, calm down." Mia said, stroking the man's hair and casting Thane a warning look that clearly said "say anything and die." Oh yeah, they were definitely related.

Jarrett steeped away from her, pushing his hair back from his face so he could study the others instead. "Who are these people?" he asked uneasily.

"They're the Storm Hawks. They've come to help us."

"Apparently." Thane added and Radarr growled at him.

Aerrow stuck out a hand and Jarrett shook it hesitantly, looking him up and down. "I'd heard the Storm Hawks were dead." he said uncertainly.

"Not anymore." Finn said proudly.

"Yeah, that cleared that up." Stork said sarcastically.

"It matters not!" an authorative voice called then and they all turned to look at a large and wise looking man, not particular old or weak but not particularly young and strong either. Still, he was impressive and striking and Aerrow felt like he should respect this man.

"What does it matter who they are and where they came from? They say they've come to help us in our time of desperation, and for that we should be grateful!" he continued, coming directly towards them, holding himself confidently but with the air of one who is troubled.

"Finally a guy with his priorities straight!" Finn said and Piper shushed him quickly.

"Master Arcadian." Mia said with a respectful dip of her head. "These are the Storm Hawks, they answered my plea and came to help us."

"So I see." Arcadian said. "Perhaps we should bring our saviours to the Great Hall so they can better understand out situation, rather then leaving them here to feel useless."

"Well, that's where I _was_ bringing them, and if I hadn't kept being _interrupted…_" Mia said, folding her arms and looking at Jarrett and Thane obviously.

Arcadian waved a hand impatiently and beckoned for Aerrow and the others to follow him.

"You can't imagine how thankful we are that you have come." Arcadian was saying as he led them towards a large multi complex tower in the center of the city. "A great evil has come over our Terra and alas we have no defences of our own with which to strike back."

"That's what Mia's told us." Aerrow said with a quick nod. "But could you tell us more about who's attacked you?"

"Yes, of course, but let us wait until we are inside. It's much safer." Arcadian explained, leading them up the stairs of the grand tower. Wing paused to look up at it with awe, and Aerrow suddenly remembered that this was the first Terra she'd ever been to besides her own jungle home.

"Come on, we'll look around later." he whispered to her and she nodded and followed him inside.

The main chamber on the inside of the tower was a huge, circular room the seemed to have every other component of the tower built onto it. Staircases that led both up and down branched off everywhere like the limbs of a tree, as well as separate hallways that filtered off from the main chamber and towards other sections of the tower.

"Welcome to the Honeycomb." Arcadian said, waving a hand across the room, which was lit by a low hanging metal claw, in which hung a large chunk of yellow crystal. It hung directly above a large statue in the centre of the room, at which Piper was looking with a cocked head.

"I know this statue… I've seen it in a book before." she said, bringing her palm up to her chin as she tried to remember.

"This is the hero and the father of Terra Vatican." Arcadian explained proudly. "Fabian the Peacekeeper and Saviour of Refugees."

Piper clicked her fingers. "Right! He was in the old wars, not as a fighter but a protector. This Terra became a safe haven for refuges. It was a neutral Terra, without even a Sky Knight squadron to defend it, right?" Piper asked enthusiastically.

"Yes, and it has remained so, untouched and undisturbed for decades. Until a few weeks ago."

"What happened here?" Aerrow asked, very serious now. He'd waited long enough for some answers, and now he was feeling too impatient to be bothered with the Terra's heritage.

Arcadian sighed and looked up at the statue of Fabian without really seeing him. "Three weeks ago they came. They attacked our city and stole most of our resources. We were defenceless against them, but they promised us that if we left them alone and didn't call for any outside help they wouldn't harm our people. They set up a camp in the Old City. We don't know what they're doing up there, but we weren't about to go and find out, or we'd risk another attack. Things stayed quiet for about a week. Then they came back. And this time they wanted more then just supplies."

"They took twenty children back with them." Mia said, sounding angry and terrified at the same time. "There was nothing we could do to stop them. They had the children as hostages and even if they didn't we didn't have the weapons anywhere near capable enough to match theirs. We could only watch them take our children away."

"They told us that if we called for help then our children would die. We had no choice but to let them go and leave them there." Jarrett added bitterly.

"For another five days they stayed up at the Old City. We sent scouts out to the borders to see if they could find out what they were up to. We couldn't get close enough to the walls to see any of our children. But they're definitely up to something; they had the lights on in the Citadel, and there was smoke coming out of the chimneys." Thane continued. "But on the sixth day they came back and took another thirty of our children. It didn't matter how young or old they were. They just took them. And then, just two days ago, they took the rest of them. Including my own son."

Mia took her brothers hand gently and squeezed it.

"I'm sorry." Piper whispered while the others looked at the floor, having no words to describe their feelings at the moment.

Thane just shook his head. "You don't have to be sorry. The important thing is that you're here."

"What kind of sick bastards take children?" Finn said then, apparently finding the words he needed.

"And why? What would they need children for?" Aerrow asked. "Did they mention anything when they gave you the ultimatum?"

Arcadian shook his head sadly. "Nothing."

"Child soldiers."

Everyone turned to look at Wing.

"What do you mean?" Aerrow asked her.

"Training children to become soldiers. It's easier with kids then adults. They're easier to scare and easier to control. It doesn't take much to get kids to do what you want. They brainwash them, basically. And then they send them into battle. It's a clever move, in a really twisted way. I mean, who on our side would want to fight against children?" Wing said, a furious fire burning in her blue eyes. "It's just a theory, but I've heard of it happening before… that or they become slaves."

Mia squeezed her brother's hand tighter and then looked at Aerrow expectantly. "So what do we do?"

"First we need to think of a plan." Piper said, all business. She turned to Arcadian. "You said _they_ were hiding out in the Old City. I have two questions: First of all, who are _they?_ We still don't know who you're talking about."

Arcadian glanced at Mia, Jarrett and Thane. "You didn't tell them?"

"No." Mia said.

"I recognized their crests when their airships flew overhead." Arcadian said, turning back to the Storm Hawks. "A terrible crew of pirates and bandits know as the Vultures."

At this Wing stiffened like a dog who had picked up on a scent. "The Vultures? Are you sure?"

"Quite, my dear."

"Do you know them?" Thane asked, looking hostile again.

Wing pulled a face. "Not personally. But my Dad and my Uncle fought against them once alongside the Interceptors. The Interceptors had them in check for years, keeping them confined to a small section of the Atmos… but I guess after their downfall there was no one to keep them from terrorizing the skies all over again."

Aerrow felt his gut clench when he thought about the Interceptors. He wondered if Starling had known that the Vultures had escaped since her squadron had been destroyed.

"I guess Vatican would have been a pretty easy target for them." Piper said, sounding disgusted.

"I dunno… it sounds sort of odd to me. Why would pirates want to go from patrolling the skies and attacking rich, unsuspecting merchant ships to taking over an entire Terra and risk revealing themselves to a Sky Knight fleet? I mean, the Vultures were cowards, they would never attack anywhere that would leave them open to a direct attack. Something just doesn't add up." Wing said, running a hand through her hair, looking troubled.

"I assume you mean you think the Cyclonians have a hand in all this?" Aerrow said.

"Oooooooooh yeah."

"Then we've got to get those kids out of there. Tonight." Aerrow said determinedly and the others nodded.

"Ok, question number two. You mentioned that the Vultures are hiding out in the Old City. Do you have any maps of the place?" Piper said, cracking her fingers eagerly.

"Certainly. Right this way." Arcadian said, leading her towards one of the many branching hallways. Aerrow moved to follow them. Turning to the others briefly he said "I'm going to help her think of a plan. You guys go and see if there's anything you can do to help out around here. We'll meet back at the _Condor_ in one hour."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Piper spread a map over the table on the _Condor_, carefully unfurling the corners of the old parchment. The others leaned in closer to see.

"Arcadian said the Old City was the industry part of the Terra, where they made things and refined crystals. The people here haven't used it in years, but according to Arcadian all the equipment and electrical systems are still functional. I have a feeling that's what brought the Vultures here, or more importantly, what the Cyclonians wanted. Imagine and entire factory abandoned and left to your disposal, on a defenceless Terra. Seem like a pretty good place to set up camp and mass produce some weapons, especially after we shut down their lab at Bogaton." she explained to the others.

"You really think that's what they're up to?" Finn asked, scratching his head.

"I wouldn't put it past them." Piper said darkly. "And if I'm right then we've really got a problem on our hands. It's bad enough that they're mass producing weapons, but all those kids are probably being used as slaves, like Wing said. Or worse. So it's up to us to put a stop to it."

"So what's you plan?" Wing asked, ready for action.

"Well, because they've got hostages inside the city, we can't just go in their and start a fight, can we? So we've got to get those children out of their first, and I think I've figured out a way we can do it. It's going to take _extreme_ co-operation and effort from all of us though. One wrong move and those kids are going to pay for it. This is really, really dangerous, not only for us but for all those children too. This is _serious_, guys. We can't afford to mess up."

"Just tell us what to do, Piper." Finn said, sounding more serious then they'd ever heard him.

"Right. I've split us into three teams: Junko and Finn, Aerrow, Radarr and I and Wing and Stork."

Wing's shoulders sagged slightly in disappointment. Not because she was Stork's partner but because she knew he stayed on the _Condor_ during an operation like this. Well, then again, it was her first mission, she supposed the others weren't going to put her in the front ranks right off the bat. She straightened up and looked determined. Whatever Piper told her to do, she'd do it, even if it meant staying behind.

"Alright, I think you'd all remember the blaster cannons that they had set up on Bogaton?" Piper said and the others nodded. "Well, they've got them here too. Big ones, set all over the wall of the city. Not to mention they'll have manual cannons too, plus spotlights so all the guards will be able to see us coming for miles. On our skimmer's we could probably deak around them, but that's not going to cut it. There's about seventy kids down there and we'll need the _Condor_ to get them all out safely. Therefore we're going to have to shut down those cannons."

Stork's ears had pricked up when he'd heard what part the _Condor_ was going to play in all of this. He opened his mouth but Piper held up a hand.

"Just let me finish, Stork, before you start pointing out flaws."

"But-"

"Let me finish." Piper repeated, her tone taking on a dangerously sweet tone, sort of like poisoned honey. Stork hunched his shoulders and remained silent.

"Alright, here's my plan. There is a control room here." Piper pointed to a place on the map. "We obviously won't be able to get too close on our skimmers, but we can sneak up close to the walls on foot. There's a storm drain in the west wall, right here. Stork and Wing will go in through there and make their way towards the control room, while Aerrow and I and Finn and Junko wait at different places outside the city for the power to go out-"

"WHAT?" Stork squawked. Wing looked up eagerly.

"Oh, I'm sorry Stork, I must have sounded finished." Piper said crossly, putting her hands on her hips. "Would you like to interrupt me now?"

"W-why am I going in? I thought you needed me to bring the _Condor_ in to get those kids out! How am I supposed to be in two places at once?" Stork frothed, eyes so wide Aerrow was worried they were going to pop out of his thin face.

"You won't be. If you had let me _finish_ you would have heard that part. Listen carefully. You and Wing will go in and shut down the power, thus crippling their defences and giving the rest of us an opening to get in. Junko and Finn will go in first from the east cause a distraction and take on any guards who try to cut them off. While they're doing that Aerrow and I will head to where the children are being held captive, in the dungeons here." Piper pointed to another place on the map. "We'll rendezvous here and all four of us will free the kids and led them to the courtyard, here. While we're doing that Wing and you will fly back to the _Condor_ and bring it to the city where we'll be waiting for you. You see?"

"No, I don't _see_." Stork said, sounding slightly hysterical. "I should just stay here and wait for you to call me to bring in the _Condor_!"

"I thought of that, believe me. But how could we if we don't have our skimmers for the radio?"

"Well, why can't somebody else go in and shut it down while I wait nearby. You could use a flare or something?" Stork pleaded, looking at her desperately.

"Besides me you're the only one who can shut the system down, for one thing. It's not just like pushing a few buttons and cutting the power flow. We need to disable it so they won't be able to reboot the system."

"So why don't you do it?" Stork demanded, starting to look like he did when he'd had stage fright.

"I have to be with Aerrow. I know the way to the dungeons. If I'm not there, they'll get lost and we'll never get to the kids in time. It's a big, complex citadel."

"So go and shut the system down and then go to the dungeons! Perfect, right? I'm surprised you didn't think of it!" He was trying to flatter her now, meaning he was running out of options.

"I _did_ think of it. But consider it from their perspective, Stork. The moment those cannons shut down they're going to go running for the control room. If I'm there I'll get swamped and never get to the dungeons. But you and Wing will already be gone, heading back to the _Condor_. It's killing two birds with one stone, you see? You'll shut down their weapons _and _draw all the guards towards the control room, and away from the part of the Citadel where we'll be. By the time the figure out what's going on you'll be back with the _Condor._ Brilliant, isn't it?"

"I love it!" Wing said, looking over the map intently. Stork was groaning into his hands. Wing ignored him and looked at Piper and Aerrow, suddenly looking uncertain. "Are you sure you want me to go in first? I mean, I could go with someone else and let somebody else go in first… it's my first mission, after all."

"No, I gave put you with Stork for a reason." Piper said.

"Really? Why?"

"You're smaller." Piper and Aerrow said at the same time.

"I…huh?"

"Oh, that wasn't the only reason. But you guys will have to crawl through the ventilation system to get to the control room undetected, and quite frankly you're the one who's most likely to fit." Aerrow explained.

"Oh… ok, I see." Wing said, tilting her face downward slightly.

"That wasn't all! I think you'll be able to handle any guards who get in the way. Plus I can trust you to keep cool if things get rough." Piper said, squeezing her shoulder.

Wing nodded and looked up like a determined child. "I won't let you down!" she promised.

"You're not the one I'm worried about." Piper said, looking at Stork, who was rocking back and forth where he stood. "Stork, come on, you've gone through worse then this… compared to leading us through the Black Gorge this is nothing!"

"Yeah, and I'll be with you and so will Falshade! We'll be fine!" Wing added, looking the exact opposite of how Stork felt.

"This is your first mission!" he reminded her, now sounding totally hysterical.

"Stork, breathe, would you?" Wing said, undeterred by his comment about her lack of experience. She'd noticed he was starting to look slightly blue. "Look, do you think you could stop wallowing in self-pity for a half a second and listen to me? Let's not think about you for a moment. Let's think about those kids out there, who are probably a hundred times more afraid then you are, and who are at the mercy of a band of psychotic thugs who'll as soon as chop of your head as look at you. Now are you going to go and get those poor kids out of there with the rest of us or are you going to stand here and cry like a baby?"

The others gawked at her while Stork blinked as if he'd had a bright light shone in his eyes. None of them had _ever_ talked to him like that when he was in one of his paranoid fits. Wing crossed her arms and set her face as she held his gaze firmly. "Well?"

Stork sighed and seemed to wilt under her gaze. "I'm going to come and set those kids free with the rest of you."

Wing grinned. "Great! Then let's get going!"

Stork grimaced. "Can I just-"

"No armour!" Piper and Finn cried at the same time.

**I am soooo sorry it took me so long to update, I've been really busy with my new job and everything at school…. definite action next chapter, I **_**promise**_


	7. Shadow Death

**7**

**Shadow Death**

**This one's gonna be a long one, but it's gonna have action and I don't think you'll be disappointed… but as the title hints, there will be death… oh, yeah, by the way, this is where the rated T part is gonna really play its card, cause I notice they don't kill anybody in the show… but I think you all know I don't own Storm Hawks….**

"Sorry, Stork, but you need to be stealthy, and all those pots and pans would wake the dead." Piper told him as Wing wheeled her skimmer away from the others and kick started the engine.

Stork sighed and checked the buckles on both of his parachutes. Yes, both of them. Finn could snicker all he liked, but there was no way Stork was putting his life in the hands of Wing's old skimmer.

Falshade brushed past him and bumped up against Wing's leg as she dropped casually onto her skimmer. She said something to him softly and watched him slink down the runway and vanish into the shadows of the cave. Then she turned her head to look at Stork. Smiling encouragingly she said. "Come on, let's go!"

Stork dug a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and put it in Piper's hand. Piper didn't even have to ask what it was. Only Stork carried his will around on his person.

Taking a deep breath Stork slid reluctantly on behind Wing on her skimmer.

"Remember, don't get too close or they'll pick up your skimmer on their scanners!" Piper called to Wing over the guttural rumbling of her skimmer.

Wing gave her a salute to show she'd heard and revved her engine.

"Hey, Stork-y!" Finn called from Stork's side. He glanced over briefly.

"Guess it's not _all_ bad, huh?" he said with a wink and a nod at Wing. Stork scowled at him.

"You might wanna hang on!" Wing said over her shoulder and gunned the engine, tires squealing against the metal floor of the _Condor_ momentarily before throwing them forward. Stork threw awkwardness to the wind and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, burying his face in her hair as Wing skimmer dropped from the edge of the runway, hitting the stone floor of the cave with a heart stopping jerk that jostled them both. Wing aimed directly for the open cave mouth, engine roaring and tires burning acridly. Stork didn't have to see to know that they were only seconds from plunging off the edge of the cliff…

"_Oh, _please_ let the wing converter controls work so we don't crash and burn and splatter into the wastelands." _he prayed at the last instant and then he felt his stomach drop and his whole body go numb.

They plummeted just long enough for Stork to think they were going to die when Wing yanked on the converter control's lever and they shot upward into the air. Yeah, that didn't make him want to puke…

There was a _reason_ Stork didn't have a skimmer of his own. He liked to know there was more then just hunk of metal and an engine between him and the ground thousands of feet below. Sure, that might sound strange, seeing as how the _Condor_ was sort of like a giant skimmer, when you thought about it… but just something about it made him feel closed in and safe… and it helped to know that their was at least a windshield between you and the ground when you hit it.

This though… this was not good. This was terrifying. This was petrifying. This was…

Intoxicating?

Wing was laughing like a maniac as the chill night air whipped her hair back from her face. She had them roaring along at breakneck speed, climbing at almost a vertical slope towards the stars. The cliff face rushed past them and Wing levelled them off, angling towards the hills in the distance.

"Isn't this great? I love flying at night!" she called to him over the wind.

_Great_ was a bit of a stretch, but Stork peeked from around her hair anyways. Something glided past them then and he let out a yelp and ducked away so quickly he clacked his jaw off her broadsword and bit his tongue.

"It's alright, it's just Falshade!" she called as the great cat cruised along ahead of them on his silent, black wings. She turned her head slightly so she could see him. "You okay?"

Stork wondered if she could feel his heart hammering wildly in his chest. "Yeah." he muttered, barely managing to get the word out. Flying on Wing's skimmer was totally different then riding along with Piper on her heliscooter.

"Good. Do you think you could loosen up your hold a little then?"

Stork realized he'd been practically crushing her so tight was his grip. Hoping he hadn't caused any internal damage he loosened his arms slightly. "Sorry."

"No problem. I'm taking us down for a landing in a second. Might get a little rough."

Stork groaned and buried his face in her hair again. He felt Wing tilt her skimmer downwards slightly and he knew they were losing speed and altitude. A moment later he felt the wings glide back into the runner boards and couldn't help but squeeze her in a death grip once more.

He felt the tires wrench against the ground as they landed and Wing immediately cut the engine. They rolled to a gentle stop and Wing stuck her leg down to balance them and attempted to swing herself off. Unfortunately Stork still had her around the waist and she lost her balance. The both tumbled to the ground, bringing her skimmer down atop them with a clang.

"So much for stealthy." Wing said, pushing the skimmer off with her legs and then rolling to her feet. Falshade touched down next to them much more gracefully and gave an amused growl.

"Shut it, you." Wing said, offering a hand to Stork to help him up. Falshade ruffled his wings indignantly.

Wing had landed them on one the side of one of the hills to the west of the great fortress. It was sparsely forested, enough to give them cover and to keep her skimmer hidden from any straying eyes. They scrambled up the hillside, glancing over their shoulders for any sign of a patrol that may be about. At the top of the hill Wing threw herself to her belly and peered out cautiously from over a large rock. She waved for Stork to come over beside her and then pointed forward.

Stork gulped as he took in the sheer size of the Old City. It lay in a large crevice among the hills, like a gigantic stone eagle looking down from its nest on the rest of the Terra. Way down below Stork could see the other city, which seemed to cower and shrink before its older, grander brother. No wonder the Vultures had chosen it for their new lair. It looked indestructible, and now that they had those cannons fired up, it was practically impenetrable.

But that's why they were here. They'd come like the Plague to destroy the stronghold from the inside out. A hundred enemies outside the house is better then one within. Or three, anyways. Whatever. So much for poetry.

"What are you doing?" Wing whispered to him and he jumped.

"Nothing" he muttered, shoving all his dark little attempts at poetry from his head.

"Ok, you just looked sick there for a second. Alright, let's go find that drain." Wing said, grabbing his arm. "Stick with me, we've got to be quick."

She didn't even give him a chance to respond. Leaping over the rock she half-led, half-dragged him down the bare hillside. Stork stumbled over his own feet and nearly took them both down again. Struggling for his balance he looked up at the towering city walls and saw one of the huge spot lights swivelling their way.

"They've got lights!" he hissed and Wing looked up and swore quietly. She threw them both down behind the cover of a nearby rock, hunching up as close as she could and pulling a disorientated Stork down with her just as the search light swept over head. She watched the beam travel across the hill side slowly and then blink off. In the distance a second light suddenly flared and began roving across the southern flank of the fortress. Wing sighed in relief; the lights were automatic and hadn't been purposely searching for them. They hadn't been spotted, at least not yet.

Wing glanced up at the top of the wall, where she knew sentries were posted. They weren't home free yet. They still had to cover the distance at the between the bottom of the hill and the wall.

"We're going to sprint, ok?" she whispered to Stork. "On the count of three."

He gave a short nod and she held up three fingers, watching the top of the wall the whole time. She could pick out the figure of a sentry pacing back across the wall. She counted back slowly as she waited for him to pass the midway point, hoping that he wouldn't look down at the wrong moment.

Her last finger came down and she exploded into motion, tugging Stork along beside her. All they needed to do was reach to cover of the wall and they were safe…

There was a buzzing noise and Wing looked up to see that the light was back on, sweeping a direct path that was going to intercept them. She cursed herself for not thinking that maybe the light might have been set on an erratic frequency to keep trespassers from picking out a pattern. There was no way she was getting past that light in time… but maybe…

Diving forwards she pitched herself and Stork into a headlong roll, tucking them both directly under the light as it swept over them. They came up with their backs against the wall, Stork cracking his head backwards against the stone from the whiplash. The light blazed past them just inches from Wing's toes. She held her breath as it past, keeping her eyes shut against its glare. She hoped Stork had enough sense to keep himself pressed against the wall where they wouldn't be seen.

The light travelled past them and she opened her eyes a slit to peer through her lashes. The light had moved on its way towards the far side of the wall, and she couldn't here any alarms sounding. Letting her breath out in a whoosh she glanced over at Stork, whose narrow chest was heaving violently. Worried he might be having a panic attack, Wing grabbed his shoulder and shook him gently.

"Hey, you ok?" she asked in a whisper.

Stork opened his eyes, which to Wing's alarm glowed slightly in the dark. "I'm just peachy." he rasped.

"You sure? You don't look so good." Wing said, laying the back of her fingers against his forehead, which was quite clammy.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't throw people up against walls like that." Stork muttered and suddenly realized she was holding his hand. He looked into her eyes by accident and thought he caught a glimpse of concern before tuning away, feeling like an idiot.

Wing pulled him to his feet and let him go. "I think I can see the drain from here." she whispered, acting like she hadn't just been holding his hand. "Stay close to the wall." And with that she began side-shuffling slowly along the wall, keeping her glance fixed above her on the battlements. Stork followed her in a similar fashion, eyes darting all about in his usual paranoid manner.

Wing giggled suddenly and it made him jump.

"What?" he hissed, paranoia making him snappy.

"Wel,l it just occurred to me." Wing whispered, shuffling along. "We must look like a couple of crabs scuttling about down here. I just thought it was funny."

Stork pictured himself sliding along in indeed what must have been a crab-like way along the side of the wall and had to smile.

Wing disappeared from his view suddenly and he panicked. What just happened? Where was she? Had someone opened up a hidden door and snatched her up like a rag doll? Had she been sucked into an alternate dimension?

"Wing?" he breathed, looking over his shoulder. He would have screamed out loud when someone grabbed him by the front of his shirt if that same someone had not thrown a hand over his mouth.

"God damnit, you're jumpy. It's just me." Wing hissed in his ear and let him go. He glanced around. They were standing in some sort of tunnel, and dead ahead of them was a grate that blocked the whole passageway.

"What… where are we?" he spluttered.

"In the drain." she said, splashing forwards to examine the bars of the grate.

Stork looked down and leapt back in disgust, trying to back himself right up the wall and get out of the filthy water that was pooled around his feet. Wing had pulled her broadsword form her back and for the first time Stork noticed that it was not powered by a Striker crystal but a Blazer.

"Might want to back up." she advised him and squeezed the handle on the hilt of her sword, igniting her whole sword in a blazing cocoon of fire. Pressing her blade up against one of the top most bars, Wing slashed her sword down with a spray of sparks, melting through a section of the grate. Stork backed away from the sparks, shielding his eyes and suddenly let out a cry of alarm when something splashed down into the tunnel beside him. Wing wheeled around to face their attacker, broadsword swinging around in a wide arc and nearly catching Falshade in the flank. The panthera yowled and Wing yanked her broadsword upwards, her sudden change in direction of the mighty blade overpowering her and making her stumble back into the grate and fusing her overcoat with some semi-solidified metal with a sizzle.

"What part of 'stealth' don't you two understand?" she growled, tearing herself away and ripping off a small portion of her coat. Falshade made a funny mewling noise and bumped against her leg apologetically. Stork caught sight of scorched skin beneath the new hole in her jacket as she turned to melt another section of the grate. Stork had to snort, even though she didn't hear him: she was lecturing _him_ about stealth, meanwhile there she was, making enough sparks to light up a small portion of the Black Gorge.

Two more slashes and with a metallic thunk a section of the grate fell away and landed with a hiss of hot metal into the drain pipe. Wing squeezed through the gap and splashed down on the other side, not stopping to wait for him. Falshade slipped through after her and with a deep breath Stork followed suit, not wanting to be left behind. He tried not to think of all the different types of parasites and diseases that were probably swimming through the filmy water as he stepped through the hole in the grate. He paused briefly to examine her impromptu welding job and made a disapproving face. Falshade growled at him and lashed his tail in an obvious sort of way. He waited for Stork to get ahead of him before stalking along behind him as if his shadow had come to life. _That_ really calmed Stork's nerves. He was feeling _really_ safe now.

"You are really not enjoying this, aren't you?" Wing whispered in his ear, appearing as silently as her jungle companion. Stork made mental note to buy them both a bell collar. "Stick close to me and stay in the shadows. There might be sentries patrolling the streets."

"Right." "_Wrong."_

For the third time that evening, Wing took hold of him and took off, leaving him to stumble along behind her. They skirted hither and thither, clinging to the edges of buildings and to the darkness. Stork caught snatches of the dark city, glimpses of the older structures that were now starting to crumble with age. They all seemed to be stuck together, like several trees growing from the same roots. It gave them lots of crevices to hide in, a definite advantage, but it also made them wary. Those same black patches of wall and cubbies and corners that hid them could at any moment also be hiding a sentry, and then it would be game over. It made Stork's nerves tingle and snap just thinking about it, and for the first time since he'd known her Wing seemed to be on edge. They both jumped when they heard voices coming down the street towards them.

"Scatter!" Wing hissed and vanished from his side. Stork whipped his head about wildly, looking for a hiding place. The voices were growing closer and it and he was so scared his thoughts seemed to break apart and leap away, leaving him frozen in place, except for his knocking knees.

Wing had pulled herself into a dark recess under the low hanging terrace of a nearby abandoned building. She looked up the street to where she could pick out the forms of three guards from the pulsing lights of their energy staffs, making their way directly towards…

Stork.

The dummy was standing stiff as a rail directly where she'd left him. Jeez, she thought that he, if anyone, would be the first to hide when directed to. With a groan she jumped back down to the stone street and grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth and wincing when he bit her. Pulling him back up against the wall of her building, she leapt up onto a crumbling old window sill and tucked them both under the overhanging, using her legs to wedge them into the shadows like a pair of deformed bats.

"Tuck your feet in!" she hissed at him and he complied, pulling his legs up against his body like a bird in flight and shrinking in her arms like a small, frightened child. Damn, he was light. If she'd know he was this easy to carry around she wouldn't have dragged him all over the place!

Wing and Stork watched as the trio of guards came closer and closer. Wing shifted her shoulders restlessly; she would have loved to go down their and splatter some Vulture brains against her broadsword, but that would cause too much of a disturbance which would surely bring the whole nest of them down upon them. Better not to risk unwanted attention.

As the guards past them Wing could pick out the individual words in their conversation, which apparently had something to do with what they would do to any women they proceeded to capture. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, Wing focused instead on their uniforms, squinting through the dark at the emblems on their backs, chests and shoulders. She could pick out the twisted, ugly depiction of a gangly Vulture and made a low growling noise in her throat, a talent she'd learned from Falshade. There wasn't a single thing she hated more in the world then Vultures, except of course Cyclonians. She could practically smell the vile scent of body odour and hard liquor eeping out of their pores and into her unfortunate nostrils.

Stork's ear, like the rest of him, was trembling. Unfortunately it was also twitching directly beneath Wing's nose. Crunching her shoulders up against the edge of the terrace she removed her free hand and clenched his ear tightly to make it stop before she sneezed and got them both caught. But the damage had already been done; she could feel an itching sensation building just below her eyes. Through watering eyes she glanced over at the Vultures, who had only sauntered a few more paces down the street. They were still too close, and she couldn't hold it anymore.

Shoving her face into Stork's neck she sneezed one of the violentest sneezes she'd ever sneezed. In another time she may have wondered in her weird little way if she were allergic to Merbs and probably would have laughed out loud. But right now the danger was all too real, and she was _not_ going to get caught because of one stupid little bodily function.

The sneeze was so violent that it nearly dislodged them from their precarious position. But the sound was effectively muffled and the Vultures continued on their way none the wiser. Morons.

It was a good thing she'd kept her hand over Stork's mouth, though, because he nearly let out a howl that would put a wounded animal to shame when he felt spittle and God-knows-what-else splatter all over him. Wing waited until the Vultures had disappeared into the heart of the city before dropping to the ground and letting go of Stork. Only his fear made him keep his voice down.

"You _sneezed_ on me!" he wailed, clawing at his neck. Wing shot him an irritated look, rubbing her stiff shoulders.

"Yeah, well, it was that or bring the whole city out to greet us!" she told him gruffly. She pulled her sleeve over her hand and wiped off the back of his neck roughly. "There, happy?"

"That won't help! Whatever sort of bacteria you blew all over me has probably entered my body via my pores by now!"

"Yes, because my mouth is full of hundreds of horrible viruses and bacterias that are just _waiting_ to find a new host."

"Do you want to hear the list?"

"Look, this is wasting time. So I sneezed. Could have been worse." Wing said, leading the way up the street again. She had no idea where Falshade had gotten to.

"Yeah, right." Stork muttered, trailing after her and still rubbing his neck, feeling unclean.

Wing ignored him and crept up against the smooth wall of the Citadel. It sure looked like a factory alright, and the moment she set eyes on it, she didn't like it. It was too grungy and reeked of industry. Even now she could see acrid smoke being choked out of several of the tall smoke stacks. She was a product of pure, untamed jungle land, and the sight of this great, oozing chemical plant she felt slightly sick.

Stork looked around, uneasy all over again. "Where's the vent?" he whispered.

Wing swallowed down the acidic taste at the back of her mouth (was it possibly that you could actually taste pollution?) and looked around. "Piper said the intake vent was next to a maintenance shed along the south side of the wall. That must be it down there." she pointed to a small, metallic hut nestled at the end of a nearby alleyway. The two of them scurried down the short passage, Stork glancing nervously up at rooftops for any signs of their unwanted hosts. He needn't have worried though; Falshade was lurking up there and any unfortunate Vultures who may have been up there would have been overwhelmed in a second.

Wing had clambered up onto a rusty old dumpster and was peering into the slats of the vent. Stork eyed it with distaste; the thing was barely a two feet across in any direction.

Wing dug her fingers into the grooves along the sides of the vent, getting ready to lift the grate free. Stork yelped and pulled her away so suddenly she stumbled and fell off the dumpster.

"Ow! Stork, what the hell!"

"You can't just yank that grate off there! It could be rigged! They could have sensors set up inside that'll go off the moment you crawl in there and they'll release gas into the system, or trap you in there to slowly starve to death, or explode or-"

"Ok, ok, I get it. Check and make sure it's not rigged." she growled, massaging her elbow. "That was for sneezing on you, wasn't it?"

"Maybe." Stork said, examining the grate. He poked and prodded at it, delicately brushed the sides and each individual slat, peered at the smooth, stainless steel interior for any signs of a trap. Half of him wanted to find one so they could just get the hell out of there, but then a picture of a wide eyed, lost looking child being bared down upon by some great, ugly Vulture brute burst into his mind and he shook all thoughts of going back from his head.

"Anything?" Wing asked, climbing back up beside him.

"No."

"Good." Wing gripped the grate again and gave a heave, pulling it free from the shaft. The air around them seemed to be sucked gently into the vent, tugging Wing's hair along with it.

"Well, at least we won't suffocate." she said. "Ok, get in."

"What?"

"Get in. I'll follow."

"Why do _I_ have to go first?" he bleated.

"Because I don't think I want you starring at my butt the whole way." Wing said unabashedly, folding her arms. Stork gawked at her. Of all the stupid….

Ok, he could be just as stubborn. "Well, maybe _I_ don't want _you_ starring at _my_ butt." he said, sidling said part of himself away from her slightly.

Wing put her forehead in her hand. "Look, in case things get tight in there, I'm most likely to get stuck before you. I don't want to trap us both in there if I do. It makes more sense if you go first."

"No it doesn't! You're way smaller then me!"

"I've got bigger hips then you, pal."

"Yeah, well, I've got wider shoulders. If anything, I'll get stuck first. Besides, your hips aren't actually that big, it's that belt of yours that does it."

"Why thank you, but flattery is not going to get you out of this." Wing said stubbornly and Stork flushed like an idiot. "Look at it this way, who would you rather have behind you, me or Falshade?"

As if on que the panthera dropped down beside them like a detached piece of night sky. Stork eyed him apprehensively. She had a point, he really didn't want the jungle cat creeping along behind him in such a tight space. But he suddenly found a flaw in her little scheme and pointed it out, smugness lost due to the danger of the situation.

"And what happens when we have to open the grate at the other end?"

Wing cursed quietly and looked down the shaft again. "Touché. Fine, you win. I'll go first, _then_ you and Falshade'll take up the rear."

Stork made a mocking little bow. "I mean, besides, ladies first and all."

"Skinny little wise ass.' Wing grumbled, lifting herself up and kicking off the wall to push herself into the vent. Fingers squealing against the shiny metal, she managed to heave herself inside, finding it to be a very tight fit indeed. Her broadsword was squashing her chest into the floor making it hard to breathe. Worried she was going to choke herself, she rolled over and attached her sword to the front of herself instead, feeling like she was a mother kola bear carrying her young on her belly. She glanced back with difficulty over her shoulder to see Stork struggling to pull himself into the shaft. It wasn't easy when there was nothing to hold on to.

"Grab my foot." she said, her voice echoing slightly. He did so and she crawled a few feet forwards, successfully dragging him into the vent. Falshade's claws made a slight screeching noise that made Wing and Stork flinch as he climbed in behind Stork.

Wasting no time Wing began to crawl on all fours through the vent like a mole in the earth. She could feel the air rushing past her, blowing her hair into her face and making her fingertips chilly and numb. It was hard to find grip on the sleek steel floor and the going felt painfully slow. Then again, she didn't really have anything to judge distance off of anyways. How far had Piper told them to go? Past five vents? Or was it six vents and two turns? Or maybe it was two vents and five turns?

Wing shook her head and accidentally banged it off the wall. Jesus it was tight in here! But she remembered now, it was three turns and six vents. The seventh vent would have them directly over the control room, and they were home free from there. Wing smiled at the thought of the shocked expressions that would be painted all over the Vultures' faces when their precious blaster cannons suddenly went off-line. After all, without those cannons they were just a bunch of yellow-bellied cowards. They were definitely compensating for something.

They past over the first grate without consequence. At the second one they could hear voices floating up from below. They paused and Wing leaned over the slats carefully, peering down into the room below. To men were bickering, one with a Vulture insignia scrawled on his back, and the other…

Wing drew in a hissing breath. "I knew it." she breathed. Standing directly below was a rather scrawny looking Talon.

"Cyclonians?" Stork breathed from behind her and Wing nodded. She was fighting the urge to drop down upon the little bastard's head and rip it by hand from his shoulders. But that wasn't what she was here to do, and so, with all her will power, she ignored him and turned to look at Stork and Falshade.

"Go very softly." she whispered and carefully edged over the grate. Stork and Falshade followed suit without disturbing the two arguing men below and like three little spiders they continued along into the bowels of the Citadel.

They passed two more grates and tow turns before they were suddenly presented with a problem. Straight a head of them was a dead end.

"That can't be right! Piper said three turns, six grates! We can't have missed it!" Wing said frustratedly, punching her thigh.

It was then that Wing realized Piper had made and error in her calculations. The floor plan on which she had studied was one dimensional and didn't show the multi-level complex in which the ventilation system snaked through. Now as Wing rotated her head upwards, she found the direction in which the remaining grates lay.

"Oh, fuck." she said, starring up the vertical shaft and trying to gauge its distance.

Stork squashed himself up next to her and looked up as well. "Yeah, there's no way we're getting up that thing.

"Stork, it's the only way, we've got to try!" Wing said, trying to work out a plan. The shaft only went up about twenty-five feet, it wasn't _impossible_...

A sudden noise grabbed her attention and she peered intently at the silvery floor beneath her. She tried to tune out Stork as he prattled on about his calculations of their success of climbing up the shaft.

"…And even if we _could_ wedge ourselves up there there's no room to move, we'd get stuck. There's no way we can get any hand holds, and if we fall we're going to go right through the floor. Not to mention… what are you doing?"

"Shhh!" Wing said, pushing him back the way he'd come slightly so she could lay an ear to the cold floor.

That, of course, set off Stork's strung nerves, and he was anything but quiet. "Why? What's going on? You hear something? What is it? Is it a hissing noise? Gas! I knew it! We're doomed!"

"Stork, be quiet, I can't-" Wing tried to calm him when she suddenly picked out a sound from the jumble of noises that had been pulsing their way through the metal: it was a faint buzzing, barley detectable but horribly familiar.

She didn't know how she did it, but she managed to fling herself into Stork, sending them reeling through the tiny space (which was just as painful as it sounds) and into Falshade, successfully shoving them all back about three feet just as a red bolt of crystal energy tore through the shaft directly below where they'd been hunched up a moment ago. With a grinding sound a portion of the shaft's supports gave way, cause their tunnel to turn into a miniature slide. Wing dug her nails into the slippery metal but only succeeded in ripping two of her them clean out. And then she was falling towards the hole in the vent. Stork was a little farther ahead then her and was out of harms way, for the moment anyways. He tried to grab her but she was sliding too fast and he missed.

Wing came down directly between two Vultures. They must have expected her to be stunned or something, because they certainly did not see her reaction coming. They probably thought she'd stay on the floor like a good little girl.

Wing hit the ground all action. The moment she had something solid beneath her she was moving. Lashing out with one leg she caught the closest Vulture in the shins with a completely horizontal side-swipe, knocking him to his feet. She hit the next one in the midrift, turning her body into a living missile. He went down under her and hard too, cracking his head against the wall and knocking him out cold.

The first Vulture was struggling back to his feet, pulling out his cutlass as he did so. Wing was the quicker though and she had her scimitar's tip a palm's width from his throat before he could blink. He dropped his cutlass and raised his arms for mercy. Wing's snap kick caught him right in the gut, and as he doubled she smashed her scimitar's hilt into his face, throwing him back up straight again. He teetered for a second before her second kick slammed him square in the face, blasting him into oblivion, and into the wall like his comrade.

There was nothing more she hated then Vultures. Except Cyclonians.

Wing tore off a long strip of her sleeve. It was already ripped anyways, from falling out of the jagged hole in the vent most likely. Ripping it into two pieces she quickly began to gag the first of the two Vultures. She figured they'd be out for awhile, but you couldn't be too careful.

Stork was still cowering up in the vent. He'd heard the commotion down below. Wing was probably bound and gagged by now, or worse and he knew it was only a matter of time before they'd fire a second round into the shaft. He tried to turn around and scurry back along the shaft, a slim chance of survival lying in that direction, but he couldn't get around Falshade, was desperately struggling to go in the opposite direction after Wing. He snarled in frustration at Stork and he sobbed, thinking he was either going to get torn open by an energy blast or ripped apart by the panthera. Either way he was going to die shortly and painfully.

Something banged on the floor below him and he cringed into a tight little ball, trying to make himself as small as possible in hopes that maybe, somehow, the first shot would miss him.

"Hey!" Wing's voice was muffled, but it was definitely hers and it made Stork's ears shoot straight up they were so surprised to hear it. "You two alright?"

Falshade let out an overjoyed yowl and shoved his way past Stork, crushing him against the side of the vent. He had difficulty getting his wings though the hole in the vent but that didn't hold him back. He squirmed through and bowled Wing over, swiping his rough tongue over her face happily.

"Alright, alright, enough." Wing said, playfully shoving he feline friend off of her and getting back to her feet. Stork was looking down at her in disbelief via the hole in the vent.

"Get outta there, we have to go!" Wing said, using some rope she'd attached to her belt before they'd left to tie the two Vultures (now both expertly gagged) together.

Stork was gawking at her. "You're not dead!" he blurted after several seconds of scissoring his mouth stupidly.

"Sorry to disappoint you. Get out of the vent."

"I'm not disappointed." Stork said dumbly.

"Oh, well, thanks then. Get out of the freaking vent."

"I, um, can't." Stork said, still in a bit of shock.

"Just jump."

"I can't." Well, he could, but he didn't think his legs would be able to support him if he did. How many times had he evaded death in the last twenty minutes?

Wing though he might be hurt and was suddenly worried. She _had_ shoved him through a very tight space rather roughly, remember. "Did I hurt you? Does anything feel broken?" she asked, suddenly very concerned about him.

"No… well, not broken…"

"Can you still move your arms?" Wing had a sudden idea.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Show me."

Stork extended one arm down though the hole to show her. She grabbed hold of his hand quicker then he could pull it back and with a jerk that nearly wrenched his shoulder out of socket she yanked him out of the vent. He came tumbling down with a squawk and she caught him bridal-style in her arms.

"Jeez, you're as light as a bag of potatoes, you know that?" she asked, setting him on his feet gently, which was awkward because he was taller then she was.

"I probably way more then you do." Stork said, taking her comment offensively because she was acting like more of a man then he was. No John McClane in his blood, not a drop.

"We can discuss the whole height-weight thing later. Help me get these two into that closet there and then we've got to hurry." Wing said, dragging one Vulture towards said closet by the armpits. She was pure Die Hard, he decided. That or purely insane.

Stork grabbed the other Vulture gingerly and tugged him across the floor, his feet dragging limply.

After shoving both Vultures in the closet and locking the door from the inside, Wing looked up at the damaged vent and cursed quietly.

"Damnit, how are supposed to know which way we have to go to get to the control room if we don't have the vent to follow?"

Stork tried to remember the route the Piper had traced along on the map. He supposed he should have been paying more attention in case this very sort of thing happened. His worst case scenarios were so far-fetched that he hadn't really prepared for, you know situations that might actually happen.

He did have a pretty good photographic memory, however. He knew there had to be some stairs somewhere, if the control room was above them… and the corridor really did only go one way. He was sure he remembered a place on the map where there were some stairs located.

"Follow me." he said half heartedly and began to creep silently down the hallway.

"Got it. You lead, I'll hit." Wing said, cracking her neck and grinning like a werewolf.

Stork hoped they wouldn't run into anymore Vultures and not just for his sake either.

"What I want to know is how did those creeps know we were in the vent? Was it just bad luck that they were under us when we were talking? Or find out we were in there somehow? And were they the only one's who knew?" Wing pondered aloud as the three of them skittered down the hallway.

"Let's hope so." Stork said, skidding to a halt as he nearly past the flight of stairs he'd been looking for. "Come on, up here."

"You sure?" Wing asked, following him more faithfully then her question might have suggested.

"Not really. But that shaft slanted upwards, remember? The control room's gotta be up here somewhere. Unless Piper was wrong and we took the wrong vent…" he trailed off to let them both think of what sort of consequences would arise if they had taken the wrong vent. Their whole plan would be ruined if they had.

The stairs curved sharply as if the were racing up the inside of a tower. Stork lost his count of the number of stairs and looked up in time to see a group of about twelve Vultures waiting to greet them at the top of the stairs. He tried to stop and ended up falling to his knees right in front of them.

Wing had a little more time to react.

"Stork, duck!" she yelled as three of the Vultures moved to grab him, the other nine drawing their blades. Stork didn't need telling twice.

One swipe of her fiery broadsword sent a rolling wave of flames crashing towards the Vultures. Some of them leapt out of the way with startled cries of alarm, but the three who had been in the very front and another who had frozen in shock after seeing that wall of fire coming towards him were not so lucky. They were hit by the deadly inferno straight on, their uniforms lighting immediately under the intense heat. They screamed in fear and agony, two dropping to the ground and desperately trying to put out the flames, one running back down the way he'd come and the fourth pitching himself blindly down the stairs, falling right past Wing and out of sight.

Falshade joined in then.

With a roar that stole whatever courage the Vultures may have had left after seeing their comrades burst into flames, Falshade leapt into the thick of them, bringing one down beneath him and catching another around the ankles with a sweep from one massive paw, wrenching his feet out from under him and tearing open his Achilles Tendon with his claws. The Vulture screamed and crumpled, clutching at his legs and not even noticing as Falshade sprang over his head after another victim. Unfortunately, Falshade also didn't notice one Vulture whip out his thin blade as the jungle cat took another guard down from behind. More out of fear then courage, the Vulture raised his sword and attempted to stab it into Falshade's rib cage.

Wing blasted into him, the flat side of her broadsword leading in a mighty back hand swipe that made the Vulture stagger back, strength zapped from his arm. Boot then solid broadsword hilt smashed in rapid succession into the Vulture's face before he could get his cutlass back up, breaking his nose and knocking him out cold.

Stork was huddled on the stairs, unable to look away from the unfolding fight. The Vultures whose clothing had caught on fire were lying still now, smouldering slightly, as were the three that Falshade had brought down. The one with the wounded ankle was quivering and heaving where he'd fallen and Stork almost felt sorry for him. Until one of his remaining companions, who must have noticed the immobile Merb, attacked him out of nowhere.

The Vulture crashed into him, sending them both reeling back down the stairs. Steps flashed past them as the tumbled backwards. He barely had time to let out a strangled yelp before his horrible ride had stopped, the Vulture pinning him over three stairs and wrapping terribly strong hands around his thin neck. Stork's survival instincts kicked in and he kicked at the Vulture's legs, but the larger, stronger human didn't even notice. Stork felt an urgent pressure building behind his eyes as the Vulture's grip tightened around his throat. Stork gagged and choked and struggled but he couldn't get the Vulture's grip to loosen. His vision was growing fuzzy around the edges as he tried to cry out for help. The Vulture laughed at him, ugly face contorted in demented glee as he watched Stork slowly suffocate beneath him.

Wing clashed blades with a weedy little Vulture wretch, one who was barley bigger then she was but most definitely older. He seemed a little more collected then his frightened pirate friends, and as their blades crossed he leaned over the two gleaming swords and made a smoochy face at her.

"Why don't you put that blade down, sweetheart?" he purred to her, putrid breath washing sickeningly over her face.

"Why don't you go fuck yours?" she snarled, rolling her blade over his and then flipping it back under his and across his gut, tearing him open. He howled like a dying beast and collapsed, clutching futilely at the volcanic wound that was spread across his torso.

She glanced over at Falshade, who was chasing down the last two remaining Vultures who had abandoned their fellows and were fleeing like cowards. Well, they _were_ cowards, but you know…

Something was nagging at Wing as she looked around. Something didn't add up here. Falshade was after two of them, and he'd taken down three others… four had been hit by her wave of fire…she'd taken down another two by hand…. that only made eleven. But she'd been so sure there'd been twelve of them.

She then realized that Stork was no longer sitting at the top of the stairs where she'd left him and something horrible and cold clenched her insides like a giant stone fist. She was at the top of the stairs in two long strides and was presented abruptly with the whereabouts of both the missing Vulture and her missing partner.

A monstrous rage seized hold of her when she saw Stork being strangled by that Vulture. A rage she'd long ago forgotten and yet she remembered it the moment it roared up in her chest. A rage she had sorely missed.

Stork's eyes fluttered and she _lost_ it.

She launched herself from the top of the stairs with a warrior cry that would have frozen the Dark Ace's heart in his black chest. She forgot all about her swords as she flung herself towards that Vulture's back. She could have torn him apart with her bare hands, such was her fury.

The Vulture chose to turn his head at exactly the wrong moment. One of Wing's boots thundered into his jaw as she pounded into him, all one hundred and twenty pounds of her. He was thrown off of Stork and pitched down the rest of the stairs, tumbling head over heels as Wing gripped his collar and dug her knees into his gut, pulling him along with her in a ferocious roll down the entire flight of stairs.

About two-thirds of the way down the vile wretch saw a sudden advantage and snatched at it. As he plunged over Wing's lithe little body, he kicked his own legs into her chest, sending her flying over him to land in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. He continued his roll until he was crouched on his feet, eight stairs up and looking down at a stunned and disorientated Wing. With a harsh laugh he flung himself down towards her in a similar way that she had used to attack him.

Wing rolled onto her back, groggy but not finished yet. A blur of movement flying towards her set off her senses and with a reflex that had become as natural to her as if she'd been born with it, she tore her scimitar out of its sheath and held it on an angle in front of her body, the most effective shield you could ever have.

The Vulture never saw it coming. And even if he did, there was no way he would have been able to stop himself.

He exploded into Wing's vision so suddenly it made her start. His decent was abruptly halted as Wing's scimitar bit deep into his chest, his momentum so great that the tip of it burst out again through his spine, spraying blood in all directions. The hilt of Wing's scimitar punched into her stomach as the full weight of the Vulture came crashing down on it. He was dead within three second, his dull eyes staring down at Wing blankly and lifelessly as his body collapsed on hers, head lolling on dead shoulders.

Wing rolled over and shoved him off in disgust and then lay on the cold stone floor for a few seconds, trying to catch her breath and feeling everywhere on her body that had hit the stairs on the way down. Nothing was broken, but she knew she was going to be black and blue the next day.

She pushed herself into a sitting position and then stood up gingerly. She grasped the handle of her scimitar and pulled it out of the Vulture's chest, which was still oozing blood. She wiped it across his back and then slid it back into its scabbard. And then she remembered Stork.

She dashed back up the stairs to where he she'd left him. Falshade was sitting on the stair above him, looking as worried as a big cat possibly could. He was growling softly and nuzzling Stork's cheek. Stork himself look horrible; there was a bluish tinge under his eyes and his throat was bruised an ugly shade of brown and purple. At first Wing thought he wasn't breathing and her heart nearly stopped. But then she could pick out the faint, shallow rising and falling of his thin chest and she felt a small trickle of hope.

Dropping beside him she grabbed him by the shoulders and gently lifted his upper body from the steps, cradling him against her softly. "Stork?" she whispered, feeling more afraid then she had in a very long time.

For moment he didn't make a sound and she though the worst. But then he groaned lowly and she could have laughed out loud in relief.

"Stork! Are you ok? I'm so sorry, I should have been there sooner. Are you ok?" she asked in a rush, turning him to face her. He looked like he was having trouble keeping her in focus.

"S'alright." he said groggily, rubbing his neck tenderly. "M'okay."

For some reason, him reassuring her that he was alright made her even more worried. "Did you hit your head?" she asked, feeling the back of his skull to check for any damage.

"Dunno…pro'lly." Stork said, feeling like he'd definitely cracked, if not broke, a couple ribs.

"Can you breathe ok?"

"Y-yeah." Stork said thickly. His throat felt extremely sore. His vision was blurry too, and her face kept swimming in and out of focus. He blinked several times and took a few deep breaths to re-oxygenate his brain and that made things a little better. He finally got a good look at her and was surprised to see what he thought, if he didn't know her any better, was a trickle of tears running over her cheeks.

"Are _you_ ok?" he asked, wondering if she may have gotten hurt.

She turned her face away from him and wiped a hand over her face roughly. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just… oh, god, when I saw you lying there I thought you were dead."

Stork prodded his arm a few times. "Nope, definitely still alive." he said. She'd been that worried about him? He didn't really see Wing as the crying type.

She laughed a little and let him go. "Can you still walk?" she asked, rubbing Falshade's neck as he bumped his head into her reassuringly.

"Yeah, I think so." he said trying to get up and finding that his one leg couldn't support him properly. He'd probably hurt it when he'd been flung down the stairs. He fell back to his knees. "Er, nope."

Wing pushed herself under his arm and helped him up the stairs slowly. It was slow going because she was so much shorted then he was. He glanced down at her and realized the front of her shirt was soaked in blood.

He sprang away from her, nearly falling over when his lame lag buckled under him and only just managed to catch himself against the wall. "You're bleeding!" he exclaimed, sounding accusing even though he hadn't meant to.

Wing looked down at herself and then shook her head. "It's not mine, don't worry." she said. She looked both ways down the corridor. "Which way?"

"Uh, we were following the vent east… so right, then." Stork said, worried about her and more then a little freaked out; he had no idea what she'd done to that Vulture who'd tried to choke him to death, but he had a feeling he didn't want to know either.

She shoved herself under his arm again and the two of them staggered down the corridor they way he had directed. After a few moments Wing noticed a ventilation shaft jut out from the wall and snake along overhead, going the same way down the corridor that they were.

"Think that's our shaft?" she asked, jerking her head at it. Stork squinted up at it, his vision still a little fuzzy.

"Let's hope so." he said. He suddenly felt like he was holding her back, and he didn't like it. "Why don't… why don't you go and look ahead, to see if you can find the control room? You'll be able to find it much faster without having to drag me along." It took a lot of his courage to say that; the last thing he wanted was to be left alone.

"You sure?" Wing said, stopping so she could look at him seriously.

He nodded, his throat feeling glued together.

Wing looked down the long corridor. "Okay. I'll leave Falshade with you. I'll be right back, I promise." she eased him over against the wall and then took off down the hall, following the vent.

Stork looked around, nerves stretched to the breaking point. Falshade must have sensed his uneasy, because he rubbed against him gently as if to comfort him. Stork scratched around his wings absently, watching the opposite corridor for any signs of activity. He tested his leg delicately, to try and figure out what was wrong with it. And if he'd be able to run if he had to.

It hurt a lot around his knee, but it felt a little stronger. He must have only bashed it. He'd been worried he'd twisted it, or broken something… another instant when his paranoid little mind got ahead of itself. Just a bruise. Ok.

His thoughts were being splintered again. "_Jeez, am I really such a nervous wreck?_" he thought. Part of him immediately answered "yes". He growled at that part of him. He was _not._ He just didn't really like being… here. He didn't realize it 'til just now, but he missed Wing, when she wasn't there. He always felt safe on the _Condor_. Anywhere else he felt exposed and powerless. He felt like some bigger predator could pick him off at any moment. But at least when his squadron was around he didn't feel quite so… defenceless? No, that didn't cover it. He didn't feel quite so _alone_, and he meant that more then literally. He'd only realized when she'd gone, but Wing had made him feel slightly less unsafe. He wished he hadn't suggested she leave.

And just like that, she was back at his side. "We're in trouble." she whispered. "I think they know we're here."

His breathing caught in his throat. "Did you see any more of them?"

She shook her head. "But I can hear them about. They're looking for something, three guesses what. I found the control room though. It's not too far. Come on."

She took off down the hall again and he tried to limp as fast as he could after her. She must have forgotten he was hurt until she realized he was falling behind; she skidded to a halt and came back for him. "Sorry." she muttered, helping him along again.

She stopped outside a gleaming metal door and sent a Striker bolt into the lock, breaking the mechanisms and rendering the door helpless. She shoved it open with her shoulder and the three of them squeezed inside.

The room on the inside was definitely the control center of the whole Citadel. There was no doubt about it. Stork had never seen so many different screens and switches and buttons and levers. Pulsing lights in a rainbow of hues glowed and flickered along the massive metal counter like a million little heart beats. He gulped as he limped over and peered down at them. This could take ages to find the right switches. He considered just short circuiting the whole system, but that wouldn't cut it; a few days at the most and the Vultures could have the whole nest humming again, and they'd be exactly back where they started. He needed to hack into the system and permanently disable it.

Cracking his green digits, he got to work. The clock was ticking.

Wing came over beside him, looking at the massive circuit board with a bleak expression on her face. "Oh, man, that's a lot of technology. I don't know anything about computers. Are you going to be able to shut this monster down?"

Stork's eye twitched slightly as he carefully pressed a small green button. A small, pixely message in green letters flashed across one of the nearby mini-screens. "Well… there's a ton of mini-systems all linked to this big control unit. Around three thousand, give or take. If I can find the right one I can shut down the blaster cannons and the lights first, and then I can try to break into the main stream control center and scramble the codes so the whole system will be terminated…that's considering we don't get busted first, and if I can actually find the right command files… and break the codes."

Wing groaned. "Couldn't we just punch a whole whack of buttons and overload the system?"

"We could, but that'll only be temporary. All they'd have to do its reboot the system. Then they'll have the whole city fortified again."

"So why not just terminate the system first, shut them down in one feel swoop."

"That'll take longer. I'm working on my priorities here. If they know we're here then there's a good chance they might send out some scouts and find the others. Or attack the village. If we can at least get those kids out of here first, which requires shutting down their security so we'll be on an even playing ground, even though they out number us a gazillion to one…"

"Cut to the chase, Stork."

"Anyways, we get the kids out of here after I bring the cannons down, we can just…destroy this 'monster' here and bring the whole place crashing down around their heads. That way their nice little hidey-hole will be ruined and they'll have to leave. Hopefully we can get some reinforcements and take them one before they get away, but that probably won't happen."

"Why don't we destroy it right now?" Wing asked, pulling out her broadsword. Stork grabbed her wrist with a yelp.

"No! You don't get it! Scrambling the system's codes and hacking into the nucleus of this thing will shut down everything. But if we just destroy it… bad things could happen. Theoretically if this room is the nervous system of the whole Citadel then if we destroy it it could, say, send scrambled messages to the generators in their boiler room and the whole place will go BOOM!"

"Oh. That's a problem." Wing said, putting her sword away again. "But if we don't shut them down in time, they'll just boot it up again, like you said, and they'll stay here and do everything all over again. This place will be their stronghold!"

"Exactly. So stop distracting me and let us hope it doesn't come to that."

Wing looked at him seriously. "What are the chances that if we pull a kamikaze up here with this thing that it'll really blow the place?"

"Uh… two in a million, maybe? But I'm not going to take that chance."

"If we have to, I'm sticking my sword in this mother fucker. After those kids are out of here. Agreed?"

Stork massaged his temples. "Like I said, lets hope it doesn't come to that."

Wing swallowed down the gravity of the situation. Stork knew what he was doing. He'd get the system down before it came to that, she made herself believe it.

"What can I do to help?"

"Um, be quiet and guard the door. You're the Brawns in this operation, and the Brain needs some time to think." Stork said, pushing another button as tentatively as if it were attached to a pack of dynamite tied to his chest.

Wing let the remark slide (she could be brainy too, damnit!) and joined Falshade by the door.

Stork flipped two switched upwards and a menu screen flared on the screen above them. He tapped two buttons excitedly, thinking for a moment he was on to something, and then slumped when he realized it wasn't the right file.

"What I don't get is why, if this room is important as you say, wasn't it guarded?" Wing asked, her ear pressed against the cold metal door.

"Well, it was locked." Stork said, trying another switch. "And they're pirates, remember. They don't have two brain cells to rub together when it comes to this sort of thing. They probably don't even realize how important it is. I bet they turned everything on in this place manually."

"That's why evolution gave us arms." Wing muttered. She hated technology, it gave her the creeps.

Falshade was lying flat on his belly, legs bent and muscles coiled, ready to spring. He growled lowly as footsteps sounded outside their door. Wing held her breath and twisted her hand around the hilt of her scimitar, but the footsteps kept going, their owners oblivious to them. For now anyways.

Stork had found the system's menu and was scrolling through all the applications. He'd been wrong about the number of systems. There wasn't three thousand; there was two thousand eight hundred and twenty seven.

He opened up one file and though he might be on to something again. He pushed several buttons all at once and a flap snapped open next to him, revealing a new row of switches. Now he was faced with a dilemma. How in hell was he supposed to know if anything happened when he flipped those switches if he was boxed up in here?

"Hey, tell me if you see any emergency lights go on or anything." he called to Wing, making ready to flip the first switch.

"Where, out there?" Wing motioned to the door.

"No, in here. If I flick one of these more then likely it'll light up some other buttons… or something... just keep an eye out."

"All these lights are hurting my eyes." Wing commented as she watched a sector on the desk. "Can we turn the lights on in here or something?"

"Yeah, _that_ won't give us away." Stork said. "Just watch the damn lights, ok?"

Wing made a snarly noise at him irritably and did as she was told. She wasn't really annoyed with him, but she hated just sitting here and waiting for the Vultures to find them, it made her nerves brittle and snappy.

Stork flipped one of the switches. "Anything?"

"Nope."

He glanced over at the screen frustratedly and realized he didn't need her to check the lights. The tiny screen had flicked to a new little blurb, which told him exactly what he had done: 'Subterranean Passage #3-14 West Door, Locked.'

Oh. Hello. "Ok, never mind. Go back and watch the door." This place had a subterranean level?

"Yes, your majesty." Wing grumbled under her breath. "Watch the door, be quiet, come here, watch for the lights, go back to the door… ungrateful, wise-ass Merb."

Stork ignored her, knowing full well that she knew he knew he could hear her and clicked a different application in the file. A new set of buttons lighted and he pushed one to see what would happen: 'Second level Room #27-C, locked.'

Great, so he was locking doors. That really contributed to the mission. Good, job, Stork, master door locker. This wasn't getting him anywhere. He went back the main menu and tried another system-file. Usually he loved when things were organized, but when he had hundreds of systems all with hundreds of files and with hundreds of selections, he wasn't so happy.

The next file turned the vent systems on or off. Ok, now he was getting somewhere. Now he knew this wasn't the system that held the Cannon Blaster controls. One down, tow thousand, eight hundred and twenty six to go. Woo-hoo.

Something or someone suddenly collided with the door, sending it crashing into Wing's forehead. Dazedly only her survival instincts made her rush back and slam the broken door shut again.

"Guess we're 'it'" she slurred before shaking her head and rubbing the bump swelling on her head, snapping out of it. Stork was petrified in the middle of hunting through a new file. "Oi, we ain't finished yet! Keep looking. We'll hold 'em off." Wing said, clicking her fingers to wake him up.

"We know you're in there, you little worms!" a rough voice crowed from the other side of the door. "Come on out and play!"

"They asked for it." Wing said to Falshade, ripping out her broadsword. She glanced back at Stork, trying to convey some measure of hope and reassurance to him. "Keep looking." she said before wrenching the door open.

There was a miniature army waiting for them outside the door. Of the dozens of them, though, none were expecting Falshade.

They saw that door opening and they cackled with glee, all of them eager to be the first to get their hands on those troublesome little pests who had somehow managed to weasel their way into their fortress. But the moment that door opened, the immediately wished it shut.

Falshade shot out as if he'd been spring loaded behind that door, three hundred pounds of muscle and fangs. He brought them down of them down with his initial leap, scattering many more of them in fear. He raked his claws down open any who were trapped beneath him before springing at another, jaws closing around said Vulture's shoulder and squeezing down with hundreds of pounds of pressure per inch and crushing the Vulture's collar bone with a gut wrenching crunch. The man screamed and bawled like a newborn baby and fell to his knees, and Falshade leapt after his next victim.

Wing's attack came unexpectedly after the panthera's blow. Several of the Vultures turned back to the door after watching their companions being taken down like deer beneath the ferocious jungle cat in time to see a rolling wave of red heat crashing towards them. None of them ducked in time.

Wing charged in behind her deadly blast of fire and right into the thick of now stunned Vultures, none of whom who were expecting such a violent attack. Wing smashed them apart with wide, two handed sweeps of her broadsword. She glanced through the mass of tangled bodies and saw Falshade grappling with four Vultures who thought they could over power the cat with numbers. She hurled a charge from her scimitar at them, hitting on right in the back and sending him sprawling to the floor. Falshade was able to take care of the other three without breaking a sweat. You know, if cats could sweat…

A sudden blow against her broadsword, which she'd left at half height in front of her like a shield, sent her staggering back in surprise. Someone had taken advantage of her distraction. Bastard!

She looked into the face of not a Vulture but a Talon, and a chunky one too, who was leering like a demon at her.

Ok, A) he'd hit her while she wasn't looking. Now that's bad form, although she expected nothing less from the scum that got spat out of the fetid cess pools of Cyclonia.

And B) There was nothing in all of Atmos she hated more then Vultures. Except Cyclonians.

Sure this guy was big and tough and bulky. But she was about to pack a punch with four years worth of burning hatred behind it.

He didn't have a chance.

He broadsword connected so solidly with his long sword that it sliced right through it and blasted through the other side, right into the Talon's side and clean through, cauterizing the wound even before it could bleed. The brute didn't even have time to scream as he fell, quite literally, apart.

Gross, yes. Satisfying? Ohhhhhhh, yeah.

Wing could see more of the Cyclonian's emblems filtering into the ranks, and she felt that rage roiling inside of her again. And her vision turned red.

Stork was madly hammering different buttons, trying to desperately find the right file. He was so sure he was getting closer and he was flicking through file after file like a junkie. He tried to tune out the commotion in the hallway behind him, but it was hard to ignore the agonized screams and the horrible splattering noises. He kept thinking that it was only a matter of time until one of those screams would be Wing's and then it would be all over.

Something caught his eye and he scrolled down to it so fast he had to go back over it again. He opened it, heart galloping wildly. Could this be….?

He punched the small blue button that had flared up when he selected the file and another row of switches were suddenly revealed to him, sixteen of them all with a small square of green light glowing beneath them. Holding his breath he snapped the first one up and hesitantly looked at the screen:

"Proximity Blaster Cannon #1-East, offline."

He'd found it.

He stood, stunned, for a second, and then the weight of his victory hit him and his face cracked into a wicked little grin. Flipping three switches at a time he flicked off the other cannons, shacking with relief and from the adrenaline that had been spiking his blood for the past half and hour.

With trembling hands he went back to the system and opened a new file, this on that only required four switches. It controlled the spot lights up on the walls. He flicked them off and then accessed the tower lights as well, turning all of them off.

Okay, that was the signal. At any moment the others would be storming into the Citadel to rescue those kids. And now he was free to bring in the _Condor_, as soon as he terminated the whole system. He knew how to get into that file, at least.

Further down the counter was another sector, this one a little less cluttered of multi-coloured distractions. He turned on the computer screen their impatiently as he heard something heavy hit the outside wall. There was a roar from Falshade and Stork hoped he was alright as he began punching in numbers on the key pad. So many sequences, and he was running out of time…

Outside Wing had just finished ripping her blade back out of the gut of one unfortunate Talon when his presence flooded over her. She knew he was there before she even saw him, his aura infecting her like a chill wind. She turned slowly to face him, and even though she'd never seen him before in her life she knew in a heart beat who he was.

The Dark Ace.

He cleared a path through Vulture and Talon alike, without a sound, without a touch, without question. He was smiling wickedly at her, his eyes shining with the type of anticipation and joy only a psychotic killer like himself could enjoy. Heartless, blood red eyes that shone through Wing's bloodlust haze and pierced directly into her heart. She felt bile rise in her throat and she straightened defiantly, her heart beating strangely slowly in her chest, contrary to the wild and erratic hammering it had been doing a moment ago. Her fingers curled around the warm hilts of both her trusted blades, blood bubbling from between her clenched fingers. She clenched her jaw and matched his stare, her eyes burning with fury and a hatred she'd never felt towards any other being before or since. Blue orbs connected with red and in that silence the seemed to echo with a million screams, Wing declared him her mortal enemy.

He didn't even know who she was, but that raw hatred in her eyes didn't go unnoticed, eyes that seemed slightly familiar. He knew that look so very well. And he _laughed._

And Wing lost her mind.

The next few minutes stretched for an eternity. She heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing. Her anger, her hatred, her pain, even the familiar feeling of her beating heart and the solid hilts of her blades in her hands left her with nothing but one thing; a pure, consuming raw desire. The desire to kill.

She attacked with both blades, years of training falling in the face of sheer warrior instincts. She went beyond the clutches of any fighter or hunter or predator. She became a monster, and if she'd had any of her sanity left, she might have been afraid, not for herself, but of herself.

This, too, was something the Dark Ace knew all too well.

Blades pounded into each other, sparks bursting between them, the ring of metal lost upon Wing's deaf ears. She may have screamed, she didn't know. She went beyond her reflexes and abilities, instinct taking over. Nothing else mattered, nothing, nothing, nothing…

She didn't even know if she breathed. She knew she'd nicked his arm, and she knew he'd nicked her's, but she couldn't feel it. Wing had once been told about a warrior's vibe, a place a fighter could settle in where they could virtually fight for hours, their reflexes and movements thoughtless and flawless, where their weapons became extensions of their own arms and where pain and fear meant nothing. She'd also heard of the Fever, an all consuming madness that sometimes took over overwhelmed soldiers, where they just kept attacking and attacking until their flesh could no long support them, they were so beyond reason. And Wing knew that thins was neither of those things. This was nothing. It was the Abyss, the point between life and death. There was nothing here. This was nothing.

And she didn't like it one bit.

But monsters don't feel. They just do. And so she kept slamming into the Dark Ace, blades screeching together and apart, sparks exploding like star fuel between them. And her eyes never broke away from his. She wanted to see the light leave those eyes. She wanted to watch him die. And she wanted him to see that too. She wanted him to be afraid of her.

Perhaps he did see that. Perhaps he just wanted this to be over with. Either way he jerked back from her suddenly and raised his swords, armed with a new firebolt crystal, above his head. As she charged at him, he whipped it downwards, sending a blast of energy screaming towards her. It caught her right in the chest.

Stork was jabbing buttons with such urgency that his fingertips were starting to hurt. Whoever built this stupid thing should be hunt down and covered in leeches for a few hours. It was scary to think there were some people out there who were smart enough (or psychotic enough) to not only think of something like this, but build and program it too! Stork made a mental note to never, ever get caught up in the technical trade. Well, any more then he already was.

Something came careening into the room then and slammed forcefully into the circuit board, scaring the shit out of him. Miniature red forks of lightning shot off it and burrowed into the computer, short circuiting the immediate sector. The thing convulsed and made a strange noise and that was when Stork realized what it was. Or rather, who.

_Wing_.

Her black hair was snapping with red electricity and her eyes were half hooded and blank. Her chest was flutteringly erratically like a small bird's who had perhaps hit a window and was now fighting for its last few breaths of air. And she was smoking slightly, as if she'd been burned.

Stork's heart froze in his chest. His thoughts didn't just splinter, they exploded and blew away like dust. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to move, how to breathe… he'd seen his team-mates in danger before, but never…

Cold arms grabbed him and wrenched him back from the controls. Two Talons had him, but he wasn't exactly putting up a fight anyways. He could only watch as the Dark Ace himself sauntered in, casting him a quick, unconcerned glance before grabbing Wing by the front of her shirt and lifting her off the controls. She coughed feebly and blinked at him with a groan.

"Well, well, lost our steam, have we?" he asked in that horribly dark voice of his. "And we were just starting to have fun."

"Get your…slimey hands... off me." Wing choked and the Dark Ace laughed, a sound which was echoed by his minions all about the room.

"You can act tough, girly, but we all know what you really are." he said, lifting her chin so he could get a good look at her tattoo. "A coward."

Wing coughed up a chuckle. Stork had to admire her then; she'd been hit bad and their situation had suddenly gotten very dire and she was still able to laugh in the Dark Ace's face, the very man who'd stolen almost her entire family from her.

"I'm the coward?" she wheezed. "I guess that's easy for you to say with your hundreds of lackeys to back you up."

The Dark Ace's face didn't change but his breathing hitched very slightly. He lifted a pale hand and for a moment Stork thought he was going to hit her, but then he slid his fingertips under her chin and angled it upwards so he could see the tattoo of the Gryphon on her neck. "I thought I recognized that symbol. A Shadow Stryker, are we? But that can't be… you were all destroyed. I'd know."

Stork didn't like the way he was looking at her. He didn't like that fact that he was touching her. It made him feel sick.

"Let her go!" he snapped so suddenly it surprised even him.

"Stork?" Wing croaked. She felt so confused, so drained…words took longer to reach her and her vision was hazy. She felt like she was falling.

'_Snap out of it, Wing_' she told herself.

One of Stork's captors twisted his arm slightly. "Any more requests?" he growled and Stork shook his head with a tiny whimper.

"You look a lot like you're father." The Dark Ace whispered in Wing's ear, and maybe only Stork heard him thanks to his long ears. "Would it soothe you to know that it was my blade that claimed his life…..while you were hiding?"

It was almost ironic that it was the one who had stolen her strength that suddenly also gave it back.

"YOU BASTARD!" Wing screamed, startling all in the room. "Stork? Where are you?"

Stork struggled slightly. She must not have noticed him get captured in her daze. "I'm still here." he assured her and then let out a cry when his captor twisted his arm again, and would have broken his arm at the elbow if it weren't for Wing's reaction.

Punching her knees into the Dark Ace's stomach she wriggled out of his grasp and rounded on Stork's captors.

"GET YOUR BLOODY HANDS OFF OF HIM!" she exploded, sounding so feral and so deadly that they actually did let go. "TOUCH HIM AGAIN AND I'LL RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF!"

Stork stared at her, wild eyed. He couldn't believe someone so small could be so loud and terrifying.

Wing had dropped her weapons and a few Talons, after looking at each other fearfully, moved forwards as if to grab her. One of them took a snap kick right in the knee joint, his leg crumpling beneath him. Another grabbed hold of her arm, only to have himself spun around so Wing was behind him and with her own arm around his neck. With a sickening snap she twisted his head to the side, breaking his neck. Stork felt sick as he watched the dead man fall. Another Talon made a grab for him then and he leapt up onto the counter to get out of reach. Wing jumped up beside him momentarily and spun back around, her roundhouse kick connecting solidly with the jaw of one Cyclonian, sending him staggering back into another behind him.

"Run!" Wing shouted at him, pushing him off the circuit board. His feet slipped slightly beneath him as he hit the floor, waiting for her to drop down beside him, but she didn't. Suddenly an arm was thrown across his neck and he was once again trapped in the arms of a Cyclonian. He struggled and called out for Wing and then froze when he saw her.

Two Talons had her, one holding her off the ground by the arms on either side. The Dark Ace was back on his feet, looking livid. Wing was fighting furiously, kicking and thrashing, but then the Dark Ace grabbed her by the throat, his sword hovering barely an inch from her heart.

"You're a stubborn little brat, I'll give you that." he hissed. "But that won't save you anymore then it saved your squadron. Say hello to your father for me."

"No!" Stork cried.

It all happened in less than five seconds. But it seemed to take a life time.

The Dark Ace moved his arm back, ready to deliver the killing blow. And that's when Falshade, the shadow come to life, let out a deafening roar of denial and lunged from the darkness.

The Dark Ace's blade changed direction at the last second, suddenly veering away from Wing's chest and in an upward slash instead. There was no way he should have been able to hit the enraged panthera. It was a one in a million shot, a shot in the dark. But Stork never did like those odds.

The Dark Ace's crackling red blade sliced through the air, ducking under Falshade's powerful, gaping jaw and tore into the beautiful creature's throat. And then he stepped to the side, out harms way.

Falshade crashed to the ground and slid to a stop, writhering, in a crumpled heap. Dark blood was flowing over the floor at an alarming rate. Time seemed to stand still. No one moved. No one made a sound.

And then everything came rushing back, all too real.

Wing's scream ripped through the silence:

"FALSHADE!!!"


	8. Violence Fetish

**8**

**Violence Fetish**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks or Violence Fetish, which is a song by Disturbed. I'm just borrowing the title because it pretty much sums up what's going on with Wing right about now…**

Stork couldn't tear his eyes away from the horrific spectacle that was unfolding before him. Wing was going berserk, fighting tooth and nail to try and get to Falshade, who was trembling and rigid at the same time. Dark life-blood poured from his torn throat, matting his midnight fur. He was dying before their eyes and they could only watch helplessly.

"FALSHADE! FALSHADE!" Wing howled, her screams tearing at Stork's eardrums and ripping at his heart. She was thrashing and twisting and kicking like an animal, her captors holding her about a foot off the ground and watching her struggle with smug looks on their faces. With a shriek of feral rage Wing smashed her forehead into the face of the Talon on her right, splattering his nose against his face with a gut wrenching crunch. The Talon staggered back with a yowl of pain and then was silenced as Wing went nearly horizontal, using her captors as leverage and punched both her feet into his face. He let go of her arm as he fell, unconscious, to the floor. The moment Wing's feet touched the ground she was running, flinging herself towards her beloved jungle companion, shrieking and sobbing: "Falshade!"

The large cat looked up weakly, making a soft growling noise that came out more like a gurgle. He tried to stagger to his feet as Wing stretched her fingers desperately towards him, but he collapsed back into his own blood, flanks heaving and eyes slowly starting to close…

"NO!" Wing screamed, heaving with all her might. But the other Talon still had her by the arm, and he yanked her back so roughly Stork was surprised her shoulder didn't get ripped out of socket.

"LET THE FUCK GO OF ME!" Wing roared, driving her elbow upwards under his chin, jerking his head upwards and knocking out a few of his teeth. "YOU SON OF A BITCH, LET ME GO!"

"Can _none_ of you get a weedy little _girl_ under control?" The Dark Ace snapped, and as Wing turned around to face him she didn't even have time to blink as he twirled an energy staff around in front of him and swung it across her face, connecting solidly with her temple. Wing crumpled before him like a felled tree.

"Tie them up." The Dark Ace growled, turning Wing's head slightly with his boot so he could see the Stryker tattoo on her neck. Then he looked over at Stork, who was shaking like a leaf.

"Do you need a nap too?" he asked him coolly and Stork shook his head furiously. The Dark Ace looked sneered at him and then looked over at Falshade, who was lying, motionless, in the corner where he'd fallen. "I wouldn't worry too much about that one."

"But, Boss, why don't we just kill them now and get it over with?" one pock-marked Vulture, who was cowering slightly among all the Talons, asked hesitantly.

"Because we've got company. We're there's one Storm Hawks brat you can be sure the rest of them are around somewhere too. Besides, I'd like to play a little more with this one." The Dark Ace nudged Wing with the toe of his boot. "Go hang them up in the old Strategy room down the hall and we can use them as target practice later."

Several of the Talons chuckled darkly and left with the Dark Ace as a few lingered behind to rope up Stork and the unconscious Wing. Stork couldn't look at her or Falshade as he shamefully stayed still and let them bind him up. They'd both gone down fighting, while he stayed standing like a coward.

* * *

Aerrow heard the alarms start howling and stopped, confused and suddenly very worried. He looked over at Piper, who looked just as baffled as he did.

"What does that mean?" he asked her, looking around wildly, although he wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for.

"I don't know." Piper said, sounding bewildered. Up until now the operation had been going smoothly; as soon as they'd saw the giant spotlights flicker off they'd bolted for the walls, and with the help of some rope and a Levitation crystal they'd breeched the outer defences, climbing up over the lip of the wall and surprising the two sentries who'd been trying to get the cannons working again. They didn't even have time to reach for their weapons before Piper'd flicked out her energy staff and whacked them both around the head. They'd gone down without a sound and Aerrow had tied them both together at the end of their rope and stashed them in a storage room at the end of the set the stairs they'd taken from the room that sat at the corner where North and West walls connected. And then they were inside.

As Piper had said they would be, they found themselves inside an underground passage way that would led them into the bowels of the great Citadel. It was deliciously ironic, Aerrow had decided, as they raced down the narrow corridor: they'd be expecting Sky Knights to come form the sky; they were going to come up from the earth.

It was like a virtual labyrinth down here and Aerrow was glad he had Piper along with him; if it would have been anyone else he'd have gotten lost a long time ago. But Piper weaved expertly through the different passages as if she'd lived down here all her life. Up above them Aerrow thought he could hear the rumblings and groanings of giant machinery at work and he shuddered; tons and tons of metal and stone were hanging just feet above their heads, and at any second it could all come crashing down…

Aerrow shook his head. He needed to stop listening to Stork.

Soon enough they'd found a narrow flight of stairs tucked near the end of a rather desolate and dreary tunnel. Aerrow took the lead up the stairs, lightning blades out and ready. He didn't really want Piper to go first, just in case someone was waiting for them at the top.

As it were, there wasn't anyone. In fact, Aerrow was pretty surprised by the lack of activity; he expected a place this big to be crawling with Vultures and Talons and God only knew what else.

"Are you _looking_ for a fight?" Piper asked as the three of them skittered down the empty hallway.

Aerrow grinned mischievously and she just shook her head with a smile. "Ask a stupid question…"

"I guess this means Stork and Wing did their job though, right? I mean with making a distraction and everything." Aerrow asked her as they slowed to a stop and peeked around the corner. He saw a flicker of movement at the opposite end of the hallways and pulled her back roughly, knocking the wind out of her slightly as she banged into his chest. "Oops, maybe I spoke too soon…"

Piper pushed him off gently and leaned around the corner just so half of one of her orange eyes was peeking out. "It's ok, there's nothing there. Go carefully, though."

Aerrow nodded and they proceeded down the hall like a couple of alley cats, creeping along on tip-toe and their senses stretched to the breaking point.

Radarr made a funny sneezing noise and it made both Aerrow and Piper jump a foot in the air. "Radarr!" the both hissed at their furry companion and he made a disgruntled noise, rubbing his nose irritably.

"How much farther 'til the rendezvous point?" Aerrow asked in a whisper.

"Not much farther. We round the corner at the end of this hallway, and down there should be an old elevator shaft. I told Finn and Junko to meet us there, and then the four of us will shimmy up the cables, which'll take us to-"

"No offence, Piper, but I know it from there." Aerrow said and she pouted.

That was about the time that the sirens went off.

They could hear the sound of boots thumping hurriedly over the stone floor, coming their way. They bolted down the rest of the corridor and ducked around the corner just as a troop of Vultures thundered past where they'd just been standing heading down the passage opposite.

"That was close." Piper said. "Do you think Junko and Finn-"

She was interrupted as both Wallop and blonde presented themselves, crashing right into them and sending the five of them sprawling to the floor in a heap.

Piper slapped a hand over Junko's mouth as the Wallop attempted to say something. The others held their breath as another group of Vultures rolled past. They all seemed to slump in relief as they went unnoticed and quickly detangled themselves from each other.

"What are you two doing here?" Piper demanded quietly, rubbing her wrist were she'd strained it when she'd fallen.

"We came looking for you." Finn said defensively. "We heard the alarms and thought you might be in trouble."

"You mean you guys didn't set them off?" Aerrow asked, perhaps sounding a little more surprised then he should give Junko and Finn credit for.

"No!" Finn pouted, folding his arms. "We were actually doing pretty well until you three showed up."

"But we didn't set them off either! If none of us are the reason they suddenly went on the defensive, then that must mean…" Piper trailed off, looking alarmed.

"Stork and Wing." Aerrow finished for her. When there's bad news to be said (and Stork wasn't around to say it) you left it up to the leader to deliver. Your team takes it better that way.

"You think they were caught?" Finn asked, concern in his eyes.

"They can't have been. They got the cannons and the lights down, remember? Maybe the Vultures are only on the alert because they lost their defences." Piper reasoned, but she didn't look like she was ready to believe herself.

"Should we go check on them, just in case?" Junko asked Aerrow, making checking on them sound like they were just down the hall and not on the other side of the Citadel.

"We can't. They're too far away. Look, I'm sure they're fine. In fact, I bet they're on their way back to get the _Condor_ right now. Come on, we've got some kids to rescue." Aerrow said, feeling torn. 'What ifs' were bouncing around his head like popcorn, and he didn't feel so secure about their plan anymore. But he knew they had to get those kids out, no matter what, and he knew that Stork and Wing knew that too. The remaining members of his squadron nodded bravely and followed him towards the elevator shaft.

"_They're alright"_ Aerrow told himself as Junko wrenched the metal doors apart. "_They've got to be_."

* * *

He was good at saying they were doomed. He lived for the moments when he'd foretell their ultimate demise and point out that he'd seen it coming all along. But he hated it when he was suddenly proven horribly right.

Most of the time he said it because he wanted to be wrong.

And how many times had he said something like this would happen? And right now he'd never wanted to be more wrong in his life.

Wing was shaking against is back. She'd woken up a little while ago, unfortunately after they'd been tied together and then hung from the ceiling to await the Dark Ace's return. She was crying, Stork knew it, but she didn't want him to hear. Her body was racked with silent sobs and Stork was glad he couldn't see her face; he couldn't stand to see people cry.

He stared at his green toes, which were hanging beneath him as dejectedly as he felt. He wondered why Piper had made him come along. He didn't just like staying behind on the _Condor_, he belonged there. He was useless on missions. He was useless at fighting. He was very good at doing nothing while his comrades went down beside him.

Wing sniffled discreetly. "Stork?" she croaked and he flinched at the brokenness in her voice.

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok?"

That one went right to Stork's heart. There she was, asking _him_ if he was alright. God, she was brave.

"I'm fine."

"Ok." She was quiet for a moment and then added "I'm going to get us out of here. We're going to be alright. I just… need a second. To think."

"Ok." He whispered. He should think too. He was in this mess as deep as she was. It wasn't fair to make her pull him out of it.

He glanced around, looking for something to help them. They were in a big old stuffy room, empty except for a large wooden table and some old over turned chairs. There was nothing else around that could possibly be of use. Ha, who was he kidding? Even if there was a great big "How to get Yourself Out of a Seemingly Impossible Situation" kit hovering right in front of his face it wouldn't be of any use. His hands were tied behind his back and he was hanging about ten feet above the ground.

Wing seemed to have arrived at the same place. "Did they search you?" she asked, her voice sounding hoarse.

"Yep." Of course they had. They'd taken everything that he'd crammed into his pockets from him, laughing at all his home made emergency doom devices before they'd roped him up.

"Ah…" Wing paused. "Did they search me?"

"Er…yeah." Stork said uncomfortably. Those wretches _had_ searched her, and none too gentlemanly either. He'd had another strange bout of Un-Merby Tough-Word Spewing and had snapped at his captors to, and I quote, "Get the hell off her!" That had earned him a fist in the jaw.

Wing muttered a few choice words and sniffled again. It broke Stork's heart to hear her being strong like that. Strong for the both of them. He supposed he was lucky that way; he'd always had someone to be strong for him.

She was shaking again. Sometimes you just needed to cry. He knew that all too well. Jesus, though, he wished he knew how to comfort her. Why did she have to be stuck with him? Piper would have known what to do. Aerrow would have known. Hell, even Finn would at least have had _something_ to say.

"_Come on, Stork, think."_ He thought, looking around aimlessly. What, about what to say or what to do? "_Either!"_

"Wing?" he said very quietly.

"Yes?"

"I, um….I just…" He sighed. He had nothing. Absolute zippo.

Her right hand was just brushing against his left one. On a sudden impulse he flipped his hand over hers and squeezed it gently. There. He might not have been able to say anything to her but at least he could do that.

His sudden use of physical contact (which from what she'd seen of him he went to great lengths to avoid) must have surprised her just as much as it surprised him. She twisted her head a bit so she could sort of see him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ok, here came the words. About time. "I just… look, I'm sorry you got stuck with me."

"What?"

"I'm not a very good partner. I mean, this was your first mission and it couldn't have gone more wrong. And who'd you get stuck with for it? Not Always Has a Plan Piper, not Brave, I Can Get Us Out of Anything Aerrow… nope, you got Good Ol' Afraid of his Own Shadow Stork."

Wing blinked at him. He could see her out of the corner of his large eye.

"You're not afraid of your own shadow." she said after a moment of stunned silence.

"Practically. I mean what good have I done this whole time?"

"Stork, you shut down those cannons like you were turning off a light switch! Dude, I told you I was no good with technology and I meant it! I'd have never figured any of that stuff out, but you made it look as easy as flying the _Condor._ Which actually doesn't look too easy, but you… nevermind, my point is you're a great partner and I'm glad Piper choose me to come along with you. I'm glad you're with me." Wing said earnestly. "We make a good team, you and me."

"Yup, that's why we're hanging from the ceiling."

"Hey, everybody makes mistakes. And I told you, we're going to figure a way out of this. Don't beat yourself up, ok? None of this is your fault." Wing froze suddenly, starring over his shoulder as if holding eye contact with a cobra.

"What?" he asked her nervously.

"I just found our way outta this mess." she said, red-rimmed eyes gleaming. He followed her line of sight and saw a lighting crystal sitting in a small bracket on the wall, inside a protective glass dish.

"We're going to blind ourselves out?"

"The sarcasm isn't helping, pal."

"Sorry. So how is that going to get us out of here?"

"The glass. We can smash it and use it like a dagger to cut these ropes!"

"Gee, that's a great plan. Too bad the glass is all the way over there."

"Ha ha, smart guy, I thought of that one too. Ever heard of the Pendulum effect?"

"Of course I have!"

"Great. Please tell me you've been on swings as a kid."

"Once. Faulty chains. Horrible crash. Enough said."

"…Ok, that doesn't matter, you get the gist of pumping your legs to make you go higher and higher, right?"

"Sure." Stork said, starting to see where she was going with this.

"Now we're getting somewhere. Right, when I swing my legs forward, you move yours back, and when I move mine back you swing yours forward. Eventually we'll gain some momentum and then-"

"Pendulum effect, got it."

"Righto." Wing said, swinging her legs forward. Stork didn't realize they were starting yet and forgot to move his legs until Wing bumped her heels into his and he shot his legs jerkily out in front of him. They swung about half a foot.

"Try to be a bit more smooth." Wing said, swinging her own legs forward again. This time he remembered to pull his back. It didn't take them long to get a proper rhythm going and soon they were swinging back and forth like a… well, like a pendulum. Who saw that coming?

"How close are we?" Wing panted as they hung in the air momentarily before falling back away from the wall.

Stork swallowed roughly, feeling queasy as his stomach sloshed back and forth. "Uh… fifteen feet, give or take."

"Argh." Wing muttered, throwing her feet forward. "Okay, try and like, throw your body into it more. Yeah, I _know_ that sounded weird, but we're running on stolen time here."

"I get it, I get it." Stork gritted, not at all liking the way the wall whooshed up towards him as they swung back towards it. Oh, God, what if the rope was too long and he ended up splattering into the wall like a bug on the _Condor_'s windshield? What if the rope was too short and they just ended up swinging back and forth forever in some strange pendulum dimension? What if the rope was just the right length and they were able to get said shard of glass but the Dark Ace returned just as they were about to free themselves and butchered them both and left them hanging there like a display in the window of a meat shop?

Or (as an alternate ending) say theoretically the rope was the right length, they freed themselves, got back to the _Condor_, met up with Aerrow and the others, saved the kids, defeated both Talons and Vultures alike and actually ended up being heroes? Was that too much to ask?

Then again he supposed if that happened they'd just drop dead a few weeks later from blood poisoning after the tiny, unnoticed lacerations they were sure to get from broken glass had festered, gotten infected and ultimately poisoned their bloodstreams.

Stork never was good with happy endings.

"Are you listening?" Wing demanded, trying to shake her hair out of her face and blink sweat out of her eyes at the same time.

"What?"

"I _sa-id _try and grab a hold of something on the wall… a ledge, or that bracket or something."

"With what?"

"You're feet!" Wing's voice cracked with impatience. "Come on, those toes of yours have to be good for something!"

Ok, she had a point. When they swung again back towards their bracket Stork stretched his leg out as far as he could, toes straining. He tried not to think about how ridiculous they both must look right now.

"We're still too far!" he said as they dropped back the other way, his stomach dropping with them.

Wing thrust her whole body into the momentum, feeling the rope start to chaff around her wrists and her ribs. "How far is too far?"

"Eight feet, but that's being generous."

Wing made a frustrated noise. "Try it again!" she said as they swung back again towards their target. Again Stork stretched out for the wall, and this time he was sure they were closer. What was that strange feeling? Was it maybe…. hope?

"Definitely were closer that time! Do that again!" Stork said, feeling more enthusiastic then he ever remembered feeling before.

Wing felt like she'd suddenly been thrown into a rodeo, only not as the rider. She waited for just the right moment before rolling her whole body again, praying that this time Stork would be able to reach the bracket. She was starting to have trouble breathing.

Stork forgot about worrying about getting mashed into the wall. Their freedom was so close he could taste it… well, actually all he could taste was blood from where he'd bitten his cheek when he'd been hit, but hey, who said blood couldn't taste like freedom? Stretching so far he was sure he heard one of his muscles tear, he reached desperately for the bracket. His toe actually scraped against the wall just below it before he felt them falling back again.

"Shit! I had it! Wing, I had it!" he seethed disjointedly, feeling sort of light headed and twitchy. He'd heard constant adrenalin spikes could do that to you. Or maybe it was the constant swinging back and forth… or maybe he was just coming down with something.

"Ok, that's great! This time, see if you can hang on to it!" Wing said, sounding a little harsher then she intended to, but Stork didn't seem to notice. To make up for it anyways she added "Third time's a charm though, right?" Was this the third time? Argh, you'd think riding a skimmer would make you a little hardier with the whole G- force factor, but this swinging was really scrambling her senses. Who invented the stupid Pendulum effect anyways?

"_One more time_" Wing promised herself and bucked again at the end of the rope, feeling like she now knew what it must be like to be a fish caught on a hook, struggling to get free. She supposed that when she'd been roped up, unconscious, all her muscles had been slack. Now they were bunched and moving and it made the rope feel like it was tightening around her like a jungle python, squeezing, squeezing….

She saw the opposite wall rush past her as they came down, and she wanted to kick off it for extra momentum, but she decided against it. She might end up jarring them and messing up their rhythm instead. All she could do was hold her breath (she didn't have many other options by this point) and hope to God that Stork managed to catch a hold of that bracket.

Aside from piloting the _Condor_, Stork didn't do a lot of things that may seem particularly heroic or amazing. Sure, he could build a skimmer out of spare parts in a matter of seconds, make almost anything into an anti-death device, guide unfortunate souls some-what successfully through the Black Gorge and he was pretty good at Poker, but aside from that… well, it was usually just best to leave him to sit tight on the _Condor_. He'd proven that today. Aside from flicking switches, what had he really done to help out? He knew, deep down, the others loved and needed him around, just like he loved and needed them, but sometimes he'd watch them do all their high speed stunts and amazing battle moves and he'd feel kinda… useless? No. Sort of… side-kicky. Like those techies you'd see in the movies, who did all the hacking and make smart remarks, while leaving the shoot-outs and fist fights and car chases to the heroes. Anyways, ever since they'd come to this Terra things had gone from bad to worse, and he hadn't done much to help out. But right now, here he was, possibly the only thing that stood between the success and failure of the whole mission. This was his moment to do something besides swing the _Condor_ in at the nick of time. It was just a small thing really, but it was important too. It was a Hero-Moment, a small fleck of personal victory in a sea of roaring triumph and crushing failure. Like the time Piper had managed to restart her Heliscooter's engine just in time to be able to catch up with Aerrow and crack a Talon that he hadn't noticed across the back of the head with her energy staff, or like when Junko had been able to catch all three baby birds just before they'd hit the ground after Finn had accidentally dislodged them from their nest high above when he'd roared overhead on his skimmer. Sometimes it was just those little things that mattered. Hero-Moments didn't come Stork's way often, and when they did he often didn't have time to grab them. But today he could see his moment shining in front of him (quite literally) and today he wanted to seize it.

Stretching out with all his strength, ignoring the straining pull on his muscles, he reached for the bracket, willing himself to reach it. The tips of his toes brushed against the cool metal and he reached beyond his limit to catch a better hold. Merb feet weren't exactly like a second pair of hands or anything, but they certainly were more versatile then human feet. Clenching all three of his toes around the bracket like a fist, Stork clung to the wall with all his might, ignoring the ripping feeling in his injured knee. There was a terrifying moment in which the rope suddenly went slack and he was the only thing holding them in their current position and for a few seconds he thought he was going to slip. But he quickly shot out his other foot to secure them and hung on so tightly the knuckles of his toes went a paler shade of green, if you can believe it.

He'd seized his Hero-Moment.

"I…I got it! Ha! It worked!" he said, smiling like a lunatic.

"That's great!" Wing said, sounding out of breath. He could feel the Storm Hawks emblem on his back pressing into her back. "Think you can smash that glass?"

Stork was using both feet to hold them up. And even if he wasn't he wasn't about to smash glass with his bare foot. "Er…nope."

"Right. Heads up, then." she said and kicked out backwards, nearly catching him in his bad knee by accident. Her boot connected solidly with the dish and with a shriek of shattering glass the whole thing seemed to explode into an aura of silvery shards.

"Don't you dare let go." Wing warned him, as if reading his thoughts as he watched all those wicked shards tumble past his naked feet. Unfortunately her threat came a little too late, because on of those shards nicked him just as the words left her mouth and out of sheer Merb instinct he let go.

"STORK!!" Wing howled, completely forgetting to keep her voice down as her frustration bubbled over.

"I'm sorry!" Stork wailed back at her as they dropped away from the wall _again_.

"I'm not angry at you!" Wing shouted, feeling like she was losing her mind. "I just want to get the fuck out of here and find the Dark Ace and rip his fucking heart out with my bare hands! I HATE CYCLONIANS!! I HATE THEM!!" She slammed her mouth shut to stop the words from tumbling out, because the sobs weren't far behind. Tears leaked out the corners of her eyes. Too much, too much… she tried to squish it all down, but it was just too big.

"I'm borrowing your legs." she choked to him, wrapping her ankles around his and wrenching both their legs upwards. He yelped, his bad knee screaming at him and she let his legs go as suddenly as if shed been shocked.

"I'm sorry!" she sobbed, nearly going parallel with the rope she was so desperate to get enough momentum. They dropped down and the rope jerked tight so roughly she gagged. "Grab it!" she wheezed at him and he stretched his uninjured leg out, reaching towards the bracket which was now ringed with a crown of splintered glass. If he'd been within a mile of his right mind he would have laughed and said "No way, not Stork. You must have been mistaken." And yet there he was, as if he wanted to have his foot shredded. Maybe Wing's current state of madness was infectious…

Grabbing hold of the bracket the second time was much easier then he thought, and he was able to grasp it so quickly it took him a moment to realize he'd actually caught it.

Wing was shaking again, but it wasn't because she was crying again. Well, she sort of was, she could feel hot tears spilling down her cheeks, but she no longer felt like she was going to breakdown and bawl like a baby. She would do that later. Right now she could feel a dangerous energy building in her blood, making it slam through her veins like molten adrenalin. Something was swelling in her guts, rising like bile in her throat and squishing her heart. Her limbs were twitching and trembling and she felt like laughing and screaming and crashing and burning. Too much, too big, too small to hold it all inside.

"Er… are you alright?" Stork asked her, latching his other foot around the bracket.

"I'm fine. No I'm not. I feel like a million bucks. I feel like a train wreck. I'm ok. I'll be alright. No I won't. Stork, I think something very bad is gonna happen…"

"Something bad already did happen." Stork informed her gently. "But we're going to be ok, you said so, remember? But we can just wait a second… you kinda sound like you need it. Anything else you have to let out?"

"Yeah…"

"Ok, well… I'm, um, here for you."

At that moment Wing let out a scream so piercing it nearly blew his eardrums. It wasn't one of those high pitched girly screams, but it was no less painful. There was so much raw emotion in it Stork was surprised she didn't vomit up her soul with it, or in the least tear her own throat open.

Wing seemed to deflate when she finally shut her mouth, sucking air in raggedly through her nose. Stork ears were pressed against his head and he opened his eyes a crack, surprised to see that the remaining chunks of glass were still intact.

"Next time could you warn me before you do that?" he asked her. She hack-snorted messily then sucked back on her nose and hoerked a glob of snot onto the floor beneath them with a splat.

"I'll try." she said hoarsely. "Right, let's get the hell out of here."

Stork eyed the glass apprehensively. Grabbing onto the bracket with his feet was one thing, but plucking a shard of glass with his toes as if it where a cherry seemed to be like pushing his luck. Plus he didn't know how long he'd be able to hold on with just one foot. "Quick question, and please don't scream whatever harebrained solution you have at me, but how am I supposed to get the glass from the bracket to the rope?"

"Hey! You told me to let it out!" Wing said peevishly, her voice spiking and cracking on random syllables. "Just grab a piece with your foot and pass it up to my hand."

"Easy for you to say." Stork grumbled, carefully loosening his grip with his right foot and lifting it to hover uneasily above those wicked little glass fangs. He tried to ignore the nagging strain in his complaining knee as he selected a shard that looked like it was just barely clinging to its fellows and pinching it between two of his shaking toes as gingerly as if it were an Eruption Stone. He was suddenly reminded of the first time he'd ever lost one of his baby teeth when he was much younger, and the frightened, delicate way he'd tugged and twisted at it for hours before it just unexpectedly decided to part company with his gums and fell into his palm. This was going to take the same sort of gentle prodding, only he hadn't been using his foot to pull out his tooth, and nor had he been worried about it severing one of his digits.

He attempted to just slide the shard right out of there, smoothly as extracting a splinter. But of course, that would have been too easy. The damn thing was still attached by the roots (it made it less frightening if he pretended it really was a tooth). He tried pulling it towards himself instead, shaking it slightly to try and snap it from the base. Nothing. Argh. He tried forcing it backward and ended up nicking his third toe off a slender sliver he hadn't noticed until it decided to dig itself into his skin. At least this time he didn't let go. But in his surprise he twisted his foot away and just like that, with a tiny _pwick_,the shard of glass detached itself from the gums… er, bracket, as easily as snapping a dry twig. Of course.

"Did you get it?" Wing asked unevenly.

"I… yeah. I did."

"Hey, alright! Pass it here!" Wing said, stretching her fingers in the general direction of his foot. Stork bent his leg up towards her hand, squeezing his eyes shut as his knee popped painfully. He felt like he was trying to do the splits and he had to let go of the bracket. They swung back and he nearly let go of their precious shard. He squeezed it tightly in his toes and felt blood burst from beneath them. He let out a hiss and Wing jerked her head around to look at him.

"You ok?" she asked, no longer fighting for momentum. Stork got a good look at her face as he nodded his head briefly and realized just how bad she looked. They swung back and forth pointlessly a few times, waiting to slow down before attempting to pass off the glass. Finally Stork bent his leg back again and tried to hold the glass in the tips of his toes without dropping it. He could feel blood running down his calf and it made him shudder. Wing stretched her fingers towards him, pulling harshly on both of their arms. "Sorry" she muttered, trying to push his hands back the other way with her free hand so as not to put so much strain on him. "I can almost reach it... just a little closer."

Ignoring his knee altogether, even though he knew he was going to regret it later, he lifted his leg as high as he could (which hurt more then his knee, if you know your male anatomy). "Grab it… grab it." he hissed at her, trying to imagine his Happy Place.

Wing's fingers grazed the shard and then plucked it from his toes quickly, and he dropped his leg with relief.

"Alright!" Wing said. "See, didn't I tell you we made a good team?"

"I'll celebrate later."

Wing sighed and switched the glass to her other hand, laying it against the rope that was looped around their wrists and sawing back and forth. For one horrifying moment she couldn't feel the rope fraying and she wondered if her whole brilliant plan was about to blow up in her face. But then she felt the tiny threads of rope give and tear apart, tickling her fingers like spider legs and she let out a relieved breath.

"Ha! Ha ha!! It's working! Oh, that's right! I am a fucking genius! TAKE THAT!" She crowed to no one in particular.

"_Please_ don't start screaming again." Stork groaned.

"Shut it. Ok, right, I'm almost through, and once I get my arms free then-" At that moment Wing sliced through the last few cords and just like that, they dropped. Neither of them had realized that the rope that was hanging them from the ceiling was also attached to the rope that had been tied around their wrists.

They both let out startled cries as they fell, and then were abruptly silenced as they slammed into the old table, splitting the old wood clean in half and tumbling to the floor.

"MOTHER FUCKER!" Wing yowled, clutching at her hand and trying to roll over and sit up, succeeding in squashing Stork into the floor.

"Remember earlier when I said I weighed more then you?" Stork said, face flat against the stone floor. "Well, I was wrong, you win. Get off."

Wing was cursing to herself and didn't appear to hear him. He bumped her with his shoulder to get her attention and she spat at him like a feral cat.

"Don't do that!" he said in alarm, shrinking away from her as much as he could while still being tied to her.

"I'm sorry!" Wing snapped, not sounding sorry at all. "But I've got a fucking shard of glass in my hand and you just made me shove it in further!"

"You…what?" Stork gulped. Wing wasn't listening again. Gritting her teeth she wrenched the piece of glass, which had turned out to be a much better dagger then she'd wanted it to, out of her hand with a howl. With an upward jerk she ripped the jagged makeshift knife across the remaining cords that had been wrapped unbearably tight around her ribcage a moment earlier and rolled off Stork, nursing her hand. The stupid thing had bit deep into her palm when she'd hit the table, and when Stork bumped her arm it had succeeding in shoving the thing clean through to the other side.

Stork pushed himself to his feet and hesitantly came up behind her, looking over her shoulder at her wounded hand. He nearly fainted when he saw the damage.

"Oh…lord. Did, um… did I do that?"

Wing tore another strip off her jacket (if she went on at the rate she was going to end up with a shawl before they got back to the _Condor_) and tried to tie it around her hand. Now that she didn't have a chunk of glass sticking out of her hand she felt guilty for being angry with him. "No, I still had it in my hand when we hit the table. Don't worry about it."

Stork watched her fumble with her impromptu bandage for a moment before crouching stiffly next to her and taking her hand gently, carefully wrapping the strip of cloth around her palm and trying not to look to closely at the oozing puncture site.

"You said I made it worse, though. I'm sorry. But you were kinda squishing me."

A small smile flickered over Wing's face. "Well, I'm sorry for snapping at you. It just really hurt and I lost my temper."

Stork shrugged and tied off her bandage. "There. Hopefully that'll keep you from getting a full blown infection until we get back to the _Condor_. No promises it'll save you from Vectorial Blood Spores though… I knew I should have brought my adhesive micro-filters…"

"I'll risk it." Wing said with a low chuckle. She stood up and went over to the door, pressing her ear against it, listening for approaching Talons. "Alright, let's go, we've lost some serious time… I hope those bastards didn't touch my swords. I'll teach them to hang _me_ from the fucking ceiling."

"You know, just something I've noticed, but you swear a lot." Stork said, inspecting his foot for any shards of glass before he decided to walk on it. All his life the only girl he'd been around on a regular basis was Piper, and although she was no princess of clean vocabulary or anything she was pretty sparing when it came to choice words. Stork had naturally assumed that this was the norm for all girls.

Wing turned back to look at him. "Does it bother you or something?"

"Well, no, I mean, compared to Finn you're practically a saint…" he suddenly felt extremely foolish. She was good at making him feel that way, without even meaning to. It unnerved him. "It's just that… it's not very…" Hmm. Proper? Ladylike? Oh, God, if he said that she'd never let it go. "…Becoming."

Wing, who'd been in the act of peaking out the door, froze and then slowly turned around to look at him with an expression that was the perfect emotional depiction of 'WTF'.

Stork ears burned and he stared at the floor, wishing he had something to club himself over the head with. "What?" he mumbled defensively.

Wing blinked at him from beneath raised eyebrows, then said "The speech about being a lousy partner aside, that has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say."

* * *

I don't know if you've ever tried shimming up a steel elevator cable while dangling over a deep, dark elevator shaft. But I can assure you if you ever do, you'll never try it again.

As it were, there were only three cables, one very thick one and two thinner ones on either side. Naturally they let Junko have the thickest cable, because it was just better to be safe then sorry. Radarr and Aerrow took the cable on Junko's left, which left Finn and Piper to bicker over who would got to scramble up first and left the honour of a first class shot of their rear end to the one beneath them. Piper craftily won in the end after several rounds of "you're the pervert, no you're the pervert" by explaining to Finn that he was _by far_ the better rope climber and she would just slow him down if she went first. Finn never could distinguish between flattery and trickery.

Something none of them had been counting on, however, was just how high they'd have to climb. Until now the entire operation had seemed like a walk in the park. But when you had already hauled your ass up ten vertical feet and you had at least another thirty ahead of you… man, it really was a rude awakening back into reality. Aerrow had always been proud of his own physical condition and capability, and he knew the rest of his squadron were certainly no cream puffs, but this hand over hand climbing was just brutal for all of them. Radarr seemed to be the only one who had it easy; the little bugger was scampering between the cables as if he'd done nothing else all his life.

"We couldn't just take the stairs, huh?" Finn groaned, heaving himself up another foot.

"Yeah, and I suppose before we did that we were just going to waltz right in the front door. Oh and hey, don't worry about trying to bust those kids out of their cells; I'm sure if we asked the guards nicely and told them we were just going to take them out Trick or Treating they'd gladly let them out for us." Piper retaliated, sensitive as always about people poking holes in her plan.

"Is it Halloween already?" Junko asked, not following her sarcasm.

"Junko, don't you think if it was Halloween that we would have decorated the _Condor_?" Finn asked him pointedly.

"I dunno, Stork kinda freaked out over last year's decorations, I just thought we were gonna skip the whole thing this year." Junko said, sounding disheartened.

"Aw, I'm sure all we'll have to do is get Wing to ask him and he'll go for it." Finn said with a snicker.

"Oh, knock it off, Finn. You're probably just jealous anyways." Piper said, defending her adopted brother in his absence.

"Funny, Piper. I dunno, Stork might have some competition though… I mean, you and Wing are pretty close… maybe we outta take down that second bunk in your room."

"Finn…." Aerrow warned, noticing the way Piper's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Aerrow, may I borrow one of your lightning blades?" she asked sweetly. Junko gulped and decreased his rate of climb so as to put as much distance between himself and Piper as possible.

"Is it…important?" Aerrow asked, knowing full well what she was up to.

"Oh, I just happen to have an incredibly amazing shot at this huge, blonde bug and I wouldn't want it to go to waste." Piper said and Finn tucked his legs up in an attempt to scurry up the cable faster.

"Dude, I was just messing with you! Don't give it to her, Aerrow, she'll do it!" he squawked desperately and Piper smirked.

"I dunno, Finn, that last one was pretty harsh. Maybe I will give it to her… unless you apologize." Aerrow said, playing along to take his mind off his blistered and bleeding hands.

"Aerrow, be a pal!" Finn pleaded, too high up to see their smug faces. "Come on, I'm your wing-man! You need me!"

Quite suddenly their teasing was cut short as a grating, grinding sound made them all stop in mid-reach. They whipped about in the darkness, looking for the source of the noise.

"What was that?" Piper whispered. Aerrow was about to suggest they up the pace when suddenly all three cables jerked beneath their hands with another grinding sound. Aerrow's grip slipped but he managed to stop himself from sliding too far down the cable. Finn, however, was not so lucky. The moment his cable jumped he simply let go and then dropped like a rock with a scream.

"Finn!" Aerrow shouted at the same time Junko cried "Piper, watch out!"

When you're clinging to a cable like a spider to its web, you can't really 'watch out' when your blonde friend comes careening towards you.

Finn collided solidly with Piper, dislodging her and sending both of them to what would have been a very sticky end had it not been for Junko, who shot out a hand and snatched a hold of Finn's arm as he plunged past. Piper and Finn had been tangled together and luckily Piper was able to grab hold of Finn's leg when he abruptly stopped falling. Something popped and Finn's eyes shot open and his mouth formed the word "ow".

Aerrow was looking down at the three of them anxiously. "Is everybody ok?" he called.

Piper reached out and clung to Junko's cable, carefully swinging herself onto it. "We're fine. Good catch, Junko."

"Yeah, brilliant." Finn said, looking pained. "So now what?"

"Hang on, wait 'til I get a hold of the cable and then Junko can lower you down." Piper instructed, but at that moment there was another grinding, rumbling jerk and then the cables beneath their fingers came alive, hauling them gently upwards like muscular snakes.

"Sweet! No more hauling ass!" Finn cheered, apparently forgetting that his shoulder was slowly being separated.

"Er… I wouldn't celebrate yet, Finn." Piper said, a tone in her voice hinting that something was very… not sweet.

"Why?" all three boys demanded in unison, tension in their voices.

"Well, um, I may not have mentioned… but this elevator… doesn't go all the way to the top floor, if you know what I mean." Piper explained guiltily.

"What floor does it go to?" Aerrow asked hesitantly.

"That one." Piper squeaked. Aerrow looked up. About fifteen feet overhead lay the doors they'd been climbing towards. And just atop that, hovering like a thundercloud, hung solid stone ceiling.

"Of all the details to leave out, you picked the crushing one?" Finn howled.

"Aerrow, get those doors open, quick!" Piper squawked, ignoring Finn in their absence of time. The distance between them and their splattering demise was closing alarmingly. Aerrow whipped out one of his lightning blades, clinging tightly to the cable with his free hand and tearing open another blister. He took aim and fired at the doors, not even sure if an energy blast was enough to make them open. For a horrifying, endless split second, nothing happened. Then the doors split open, allowing light to spill down on them like a beacon.

"Jump!" Aerrow shouted, flinging himself more then actually jumping from the cable and stumbling across the floor. He fell to his knees and only just managed to roll aside as Junko came crashing down beside him, dragging Piper and Finn. With an alarmed squawk Radarr leapt from the cable and tackled Aerrow's shoulder as the red head got back to his feet. Moments later they heard the elevator car rumble up into its dock, screeching to a halt and crunching slightly against the ceiling as if Fate were showing them just how lucky they were.

But, you know, Fate doesn't let you slip through its claws that easily. Just as Aerrow was about to ask Piper which way they had to go to get to the dungeons, a group of maybe twenty Vultures (and, unfortunately not to Aerrow's surprise, Cyclonians) rounded the corner and zeroed in on them.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

* * *

Prowling along, limbs moving smoothly and yet disjointedly, Wing scowered the corridors, listening, waiting. They were all around, she knew, in this mighty catacomb of a fortress.

Stork stalked along behind her, clinging to her without actually touching her. He could hear them too, moving about, above, below… nearby. The placed was like a hornet nest and they'd roused the hive. It was only a matter of time before they bumped into a group of them. And Wing didn't have her weapons.

"The Control Room's down that way." Stork whispered, pointing down a side corridor. He'd been conscious while they'd dragged him into the Strategy room, and he remembered the way clearly. He'd made it a habit of remembering exits, because you never knew when you might be making excuses and dashing towards them like all Hell was on your heels.

Wing peeked around the corner and tucked back around as if someone had thrown and Eruption Stone at her. "Yeah, sure is." she agreed. "And about seven Talons too." She moved ever so slightly so that one electric orb could peer down the hallway. Stork grabbed hold of her arm in case he had to wrench her out of the line of fire. "Fuck, it's right there! I can see it! My broadsword is _right there_!" Wing seethed and leaned around a little further. Stork dug in his heels.

"They'll see you!" he hissed.

"Don't you even think it, buddy." Wing growled at one of the Talons who was eyeing her broadsword with interest.

"They're going to hear you!" Stork hissed again, tugging at her relentlessly. "Come back here, we need to think of a plan!"

Wing pulled back, seemed to think for a moment and then took a deep breath. And then to Stork's horror she started singing at the top of her lungs:

"_LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH-" _

"What are you _doing?_" Stork demanded, his voice tight with fear.

Wing, still singing, or screaming, or repeating, whatever she was doing, held up a finger and peered around the corner again. Stork could hear them coming, even over her overly loud voice.

"_BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH-_

_FUCK IT!"_

And just as she spewed out that last part the first of the Talons rounded the corner and she greeted him with a solid punch right in the bridge of his thin nose. It splattered under her fury and he staggered back into one of his fellows.

Ah. Now he got it. A trap. Clever. No trip-wires, but still clever.

Wing anchored her left foot to the floor and pivoted on it, her right leg coming up and spinning her around like a dancer. Except dancers don't wear thick combat boots that add a nice extra kick (pardon the pun) to the receiving end of a furious round house. Two Talons caught that kick, one in the ribs and one right in the jaw. The latter of the two dropped, clutching at his dislocated jaw and too shocked to utter a whimper. The second Talon doubled over, clutching his side and letting his energy staff loosen in his grasp. In one single fluid movement Wing snatched a hold of his staff and tore it from his meagre grasp, spinning him to the side to meet her knee cap, right in the face.

As Wing spun about to try and clobber another Talon in the temple with her new weapon, Stork wisely ducked out of the way and tried to think of how he could make himself useful. Wing, although nowhere near the expert that Piper was when duelling with an energy staff, was holding her own pretty well, finally connecting with her original target's head just below the strap of his goggles before spinning about to sweep the legs out from beneath another Talon and then clock him in the head for good measure.

"Get to the Control Room, I'll catch up!" she told him, wrestling with another Talon who had locked their staffs together. Stork nodded and was about to try and wriggle past when the seventh Talon, who'd been until now lying in wait for either a good shot or a good get away, leapt forward, ignoring Stork altogether and aiming straight for Wing's exposed back with a downward chop with his staff.

But he never even got close.

Stork's movement was so fast that he didn't even realize what he was doing, let alone the Cyclonian. He liked to think it was his fighting instincts finally kicking in. Whatever force of nature propelled him to do it, he balled up one green fist and sent it home, all three bony knuckles connecting solidly right between the Talon's eyes. The Talon halted abruptly as if his legs had been suddenly liquefied, teetered for a moment and then collapsed at Stork's feet, out cold. Wing, who'd just dispatched her own Talon with a knee to the gut and a quick flip of her wrist to free her staff, jumped back in surprise as the last Talon slumped to the ground next to her with a thud. They both stared at that prone figure for a minute and it was hard to tell which of them was more stunned.

"Did you… did you just deck that guy?" Wing asked slowly. Stork was still starring at the Cyclonian, shocked out of his own mind. Then he blinked and brought his knuckles up for examination.

"Ow."

Wing burst into laughter, throwing an arm around his shoulders which hovered a good half a foot over her own. "Well, look who's finally coming around!" she crowed. "Our Storky's got a taste for blood after all! Watch out, Cyclonians, this dude's got bite!"

"You're worse then Finn." Stork told her, although a tiny smile was curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, man, wait 'til the others hear about this! This is a story for the ages!" Wing cried, jumping up so she could give him a nougie.

Stork shoved her off. "We're not out of danger yet." he reminded her, clawing at his hair to make it lie flat again. She gave him a bit of a salute and hurried off down the hallway to collect her broadsword.

"Aw, baby, are you ever a sight for sore eyes." she crooned, hefting it into her hands and stroking the side of the blade, which was slick with blood. Then she spun around, looking for her scimitar and nearly clipping Stork with her broadsword.

'Shit, where's my scimitar?" she asked him, eyes flashing about desperately.

"I have no idea. Go look for it, I'll be in here." Stork jerked a thumb at the Control Room and sidled past her. His heart was going berserk in his chest. He did not want to let her into that room.

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "You're lying."

"Am not." he said around the lump of bile and fear in his throat.

And then she remembered. He saw it dawn in her blue eyes, the most terrible dawn he'd ever witnessed.

"Falshade." the words barely made it past her lips and then she was trying to shove her way past him.

"No, Wing!" he said desperately, trying to hold the door shut and get a grip on her jacket at the same time. But she wriggled out of his frantic grasp and forced the door open. He tried to catch hold of her as she squeezed past but she was too quick for him. He nearly ran into her frozen form as he followed after her.

Any Talons who she'd felled before had been removed from the room, but blood still remained, on the floors and walls. Her scimitar was lying next to one of the sectors and the rainbow of lights were winking and flashing as if they'd never born witness to the battle that had taken in place in their dark universe. But Wing only had eyes for Falshade.

No noise escaped her as she fell to her knees and then scrambled across the floor, which was slippery and sticky with blood. Jungle blood. Stork could only look on in horror and distraught. Wing pulled herself right into the panthera's flank and grabbed hold of his shadowy pelt in both hands. Her entire body was trembling as she gave the cat's body a gentle yet desperate shake.

"Falshade?" she whispered, tears choking and catching in her voice. The cat's head lolled lifelessly and his wings rustled slightly as they were jostled by her pleading shake. One slid over his flank, bumping her arm bluntly, no muscles or comfort assisting his movements. Blood dripped from the mighty gash in his throat and joined the sea of cooling life that Wing was kneeling in. The panthera was gone.

Now was not the time for screams or oaths of revenge. Now was not the time for tears and sobs and begging for return. Now was the time for silence, a horrible, smothering thing that wrapped around Wing and her broken heart as she buried her face into Falshade's fur, no longer warm or soothing but stiff and cold. And the clamouring silence washed over her like black water.

Stork twisted his face away and tried to block that freezing silence from his ears. No no no no no no NO! This was the Golden Rule, one that you were never, ever supposed to break! It was almost a law: no one was ever lost. No one ever gets left behind, nobody ever is supposed to die….

It was all a stupid game they liked to play. They ran about with swords and crystals and pretended to be big, they aimed to cripple, they acted like children. But this was war, and they had to be kidding themselves to think that all along they'd always be alright, that they'd never lose each other. They _had_ kidded themselves. It was all fun and games until somebody died. It took that to make them realize… and now…

His frustrations and anguish bubbled over. It was because of these stupid Vaticans with no stupid squadron that they'd gotten dragged here, Piper's stupid plan, his stupid, stupid paranoia… where had it gotten them?

No. It wasn't their fault. It was the Vultures and the Cyclonians and the Dark Ace and everyone else who just couldn't let the world go by without trying to ruin it. It was a game to them too. A game of Let's Conquer the World, Let's Play God.

A bitter taste was in the back of his mouth as he yanked Wing's broadsword from its scabbard and turned to the controls. Fuck, why couldn't he have just done this in the first place? Then Wing wouldn't have a hole in her hand and Falshade wouldn't be dead.

Jeez, the thing was heavy. How did she make it look so easy? Squeezing the trigger on the handle the whole sword went up like it had been soaked in star fuel and he jumped slightly at the heat. It sat heavily in his hands for a second before he flipped it over and rammed it into the centre console. The huge machine crackled and spat and hissed and howled like a beast and sparks flung themselves free from the inferno. Lightning rods of electricity flew and connected together and leapt at him like angry snakes. He let go of the sword and back up a bit, his foot sliding in something thick and cold. He recoiled in repulsion and watched as the entire board flickered like a failing heart and then all the lights winked out like a dying constellation. The only light was the eerie glow of Wing's gleaming broad sword.

He breathed deeply a few times and waited to hear something explode. Nothing. It had been safe all along.

"Wing." he breathed carefully, picking out her hunched form in the semi-light. No response.

"The system is shut down… this place is a closed door to them now." he reported quietly, all euphoria vanquished in the face of loss. "We have to go get the _Condor_. Remember Piper's plan?"

Wing made a whimpering noise and pulled herself further into Falshade's body.

"Y-you go." she gurgled. "Y-you know w-where my skimmer is."

He rubbed his hands over his face. "I can't fly your ride. And what if I run into more Talons?"

"Take my sword." her words were hollow and empty and sounded like defeat. It scared him.

"What about you?"

"I'm going to stay here." she told him hazily, snuggling into Falshade's flank as if she were lying down to sleep until she died.

He hated doing this to her, but there was no way he was letting her stay here until another band of Talons found her. He crouched next to her and reached for her shoulder, changed his mind half way and then grit his teeth and grabbed it anyways, despite the fact she was probably crawling with bacteria. "No, you're not. Get up. C'mon, please get up. You can't stay here forever."

She murmured something inaudible into Falshade's fur, her face hidden from him. He was certain it was something along the lines of "watch me" though.

"Look. You dragged me… literally, through this whole mission, and even though I fucked up you just wouldn't quit. We're so close, and I'm not just gonna let you sit here and give up." He told her, clinging to her shoulder a little tighter then he should have.

She raised her head slowly, looking stiff and sore all over. She looked him straight in the eye and for once she just looked so… small, like a child. All strength and hope and fight seemed to have been sucked out of her by the black hole that was Falshade's absence. Her face was bruised and torn and streaked with blood and sweat and too-long held back tears.

"I can't just leave him here." she whispered, shaking.

"We won't. We'll come back for him." Stork told her, not even beginning to think of how they were going to carry the three hundred pound panthera's… deadweight… out of the fortress.

Wing oogled at him, her eyes stretched abnormally wide and vacant. "You promise?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I promise."

Wing was on her feet so fast he was knocked over backwards. He shuffled away from the pool of Falshade's blood before bothering to try and get back to his feet. Wing had approached the still fizzing circuit board. She reached out and tug her sword free, sliding it into its sheath without a sound. She retrieved her scimitar and then helped him to his feet, looking wretched and deadly.

"This isn't like last time." she said then, to no one in particular it seemed. Stork nodded anyways, in case that might comfort her.

"No, it isn't. Things are going to be okay, you'll see." That he wasn't so sure of. There were only a few things that could make this any more not-okay, he knew that even in his over-calculating mind. And they were horribly possible.

"No, don't you see, Stork?" she asked him then, something horrible cracking on her face, the veins around her temples leaping out like ink from her pale skin. "Don't you get it? It isn't like last time because…" her jaw cracked under the strain of her smile. Despite his trying to be supportive he couldn't help but take a tiny step back from her. "Because because because this time there are still Cyclonians around and just waiting for someone to rip their bellies open and spill all that tar from their veins. See?"

* * *

When the lights suddenly went out, Aerrow felt like he was trying to fly Widow's Canyon blindfolded; at any moment he expected something to blow him apart.

Instinctively he ducked, pulling the person nearest him, who happened to be Finn, down with him to his belly on the floor. He heard Finn's rattling breath as he succeeded in knocking the wind out of himself and then felt and heard and saw five charges thunder by overhead as the Talons attempted to stop any of them who may have tried to make a run for it.

He whipped out both of his lightning blades and fired two rounds towards the Talons and then rolled to the side as another charge came hurtling like a comet in his direction on the floor. He heard Finn yelp, hopefully more out of surprise then injury, and Radarr squawked as he was nearly rolled over by Aerrow _and_ Junko _and_ nearly blasted with another bolt of energy.

Then the emergency lights sputtered to life.

Piper had pressed herself against the wall and was almost successful in pitching herself into the elevator shaft. She was the first one to start the attack, cracking one charging Vulture around the head with her energy staff before she could even register her own movements. She jumped over him as his unconscious body continued to hurtles itself at her out of pure momentum. She fired two bolts at the clutter of Talons who were providing cover fire for their allies and then spun about in a wide arc, clipping two Talons in the head region before flicking her staff round and catching a third under the chin.

Aerrow sprang into action, closing his blades like a scissor to catch a Vulture's energy staff between then and then rolling them over so now the open end was facing the floor. He grinned up at the Vulture, who looked dumbfounded and then twisted to the side and jerked his blades downward at the same time. Like a see-saw the opposite end of the staff rocketed upwards in the Vulture's grasp and punched into the underside of his jaw, snapping his head upwards with a crack. For good measure Aerrow landed a snap kick right in his now exposed chest and the larger man keeled over backward and met the floor without resistance.

Finn struggled to regain his breath on the floor while he fumbled with his crossbow. In these close quarters it was easier to select a target, but difficult to insure you had a clear shot at said target. You never knew when someone you knew might decide to jump through the cross wires at the wrong moment. They don't call it friendly fire for nothin'.

Feeling frustrated as he lost yet another perfect shot because Aerrow was obscuring his vision, Finn wondered if it might just be more effective to throw his crossbow at someone instead. He looked up for inspiration and spotted a heavy looking pipe line snaking across the ceiling over head of the battle.

"Oh yeah, I am so genius." he told himself and then shouted "Hey, Hawkies! Pretend there's a deck and hit it!" Hoping his friends got the message he reared his crossbow upward and squeezed the trigger.

Two crossbolts blasted soundly into either side of the large pipe. The pipeline shudder like a huge black centipede and then with a jaw clenching grinding sound it broke loose from its support brackets and parted company with the ceiling. It swung down like a tree branch that has been released and thundered into eleven Talons simultaneously, knocking laying them all low like bowling pins.

"Ha! Strike! Thirty points to the handsome blonde with the bow!" Finn crowed, blowing on the tip of his crossbow and pointing his fingers in their typically arrogant six guns position.

Right around then it was like the force of a waterfall had been realised from the rumbling pipe.

"Quick! Follow me!" Piper shouted over the clamour and the boys took off after her down the corridor while a wave of water chased behind them like an eager dog. It barely reached their knees and wasn't really of any hindrance to them, but Finn had only provided them with a temporary lull and they intended to take full advantage of it.

"Way to think on your feet, Finn!" Aerrow congratulated as the slipped and splashed down the fast-flooding corridor. "Not only did you knock out those Talons like flies with a fly swatter, you provided us with some get away cover!"

"Heh, I know, I'm awesome."

"I hate to say it, but good work, Finn." Piper relented as they paused momentarily to let her recall which hallway they had to take. "Okay, the dungeons are down this way, and since it looks like the power's out then we shouldn't have any trouble getting the doors open."

"Bonus. C'mon, let's go save some kiddies!" Finn cheered eagerly and led the way down the considerably darker passageway.

"Hey, if the power's off that means Stork and Wing did their job, right?" Junko asked Piper as they followed behind.

"Theoretically." Piper said with obvious relief. "The three of them are probably on the way back to the _Condor_ as we speak."

Aerrow and Finn had reached the end of the passage and were both heaving at the handle of a heavy metal door. The energy locks may have been off but the door was still bolted shut.

"She's all yours, Junko." Aerrow granted, bowing in an exaggerated way as he moved away from the door. Junko grinned his boyish little Wallop grin and crunched his knuckles together, activating the hungry green glow. The others backed away a safe distance as he brought back a fist and then sent it thundering into the door, knocking the thing right off it's hinges.

"I think it was a pull." Finn smirked and Junko pulled an 'oops' face at him before pushing his way into the black chamber beyond the now empty doorway.

Aerrow followed after him closely, activating his blades once more so they could look around. "Hello?" he called. His voice echoed back instantly. It was like shouting in a shower stall.

Suddenly something threw itself against metal bars nearby, attempting to land a punch on Aerrow. Radarr leapt back in alarm and Aerrow started.

"Back off!" came a small but determined voice. "I'm warning you! Don't come any closer!"

Aerrow took a respective step back and raised his right blade a little higher to shed light on the voice's owner. Directly in front of him lay a solid wall of bars, and just on the other side a small boy, no older then eight at the most, was struggling ferociously and trying to claw his was through the bars to get at them. Behind him, hidden in the semi-shadows a small group of children huddled, looking dirty and terrified of these new, weapon wielding teenagers.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down." Aerrow said, trying to sound non-threatening. "We're here to get you out!"

"Right. And I'm a pixie." the boy growled, his tiny hands curled at his sides. He looked exhausted, starved and afraid just beneath a fragile wall of determination. And his face looked oddly familiar. Aerrow suddenly was stuck by the notion that this must be Thane's son.

"No, really, we're here to help. Look, we aren't Talons, see?" Piper said soothingly, angling herself to show him her Storm Hawks crest. "We're going to get you out of here and bring you back to your families."

"And why should we believe that? Just because you've got some bits of twisted metal on your backs?"

"Hey, listen up little dude, because I did not claw my way into this puke hole to get sassed by some little punk, okay? That's my job. We nearly got sliced, diced, shredded and splattered to find you guys so unless you smarten up and come with us right now you're going to get one hell of a service charge in your dungeon inbox, got it?" Finn snapped, his patience with this kid done and gone.

The boy seemed to mull over this before looking at Aerrow again, with dramatically less hostility. Enter Finn, hostage negotiator and master motivational speaker. He still seriously lacked tact, however.

"Okay, so you're here to rescue us. How do you plan to get us all out without anybody noticing?" he asked haltingly.

"Let's just say that inconspicuous isn't really our forte. Anyways, does it really matter? We're getting you out and that's that. Just stay quiet and do exactly as we tell you." Aerrow ordered, nodding to Junko. The Wallop stepped forward and grasped the metal door, wrapping his meaty hands around two bars and jerking the thing right from the brackets and tossing it aside without a second thought. He then moved on to the next cell, where the children inside shrank back form his formidable size and watched on in a combination of awe and fright.

Piper stepped into the first cell and crouched next to the trembling children, speaking soothingly and motherly to them. The boy stepped out boldly and stood before Aerrow, stretching in a way he must have thought was unnoticeable in an attempt to make himself look taller.

"We'll follow you." he reported. "But we're not going to be able to just waltz out of this place. We might even have to fight." The idea seemed to frighten him and give him a guilty sense of excitement at the same time.

Aerrow nodded. "We'll protect you, don't worry."

The boy glanced about shiftily and stared at his feet awkwardly before asking "If you lend me a blade, I can fight as well."

Aerrow lifted a brow before shaking his head. "Sorry, little man, but you'd better leave that stuff to us. But there is a way you can help me. The other children look up to you. Can you make sure they listen to us and keep together?"

The boy nodded obediently, looking proud of himself. "You bet I can. I'm Finch." he informed Aerrow, thrusting out a hand brazenly.

"Aerrow." Aerrow responded, shaking the tiny appendage and then turning to check on the others' progress. Piper had coaxed all the children out into the middle of the room and was still chattering to them to keep them calm. Junko had just ripped the last door from its socket and Finn had hefted a tiny girl up into his arms, holding her close to his chest and looking much more reserved then Aerrow had ever seen him.

"Her name's Pidgin." he explained to Aerrow's questioning look. "Her ankles hurt, I think."

The girl stared up at Aerrow with huge dark eyes and clung tightly to Finn's uniform. Piper gave him an exaggerated adoring expression and he stuck his tongue out her in retaliation.

"I like kids." he muttered defensively.

"Listen up, everyone." Finch was talking to the crowd of children as Aerrow checked down the passage to make sure the coast was clear. "This is Aerrow and he's going to get us out of here. We can trust him. But we've got to be really quiet and keep together, okay? This isn't a game."

"Smart kid." Finn granted.

Finch turned to Aerrow. "Okay, we're ready to go."

"Right. Junko, you take up the rear, make sure we don't loose anyone. Finch, stay close to me in case I need your help. Finn, keep up with us too and make sure you cover us if we need to make a break for it, got it?" Aerrow directed, feeling his leader skills flowing as he built their action plan. "Piper, stay up near the front so you can tell me where to turn and keep everyone together." Piper nodded. Aerrow scanned the group of traumatized kids and picked out a taller, older looking girl who looked a little less stricken and like she still had some strength in her yet. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Stella." she said, sticking her chin out defiantly. She had to be at least twelve.

"Okay. You're going to stick with Piper there, help out the littler ones and if Finn has to help me out you're going to take Pidgin from him, okay?" Aerrow directed, pointing to each of his friends in turn. The girl nodded and stood next to Piper, taking the hand of a smaller boy and girl who might have been her younger sister.

"Right, the rest of you keep together, follow us and look out for each other." Aerrow said lastly to the rest of the children. Some nodded while others hid behind others taller then them. Aerrow suddenly felt very afraid. Coming in here in the first place had been risky, but now that he had all these kids in tow while Talons and Vultures stormed the fortress in a frenzy felt just bad. Foreboding. Like he was pushing his luck

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and then after one more check into the half-lit hallways he stepped free of the dungeon, eager to leave it's bloody, fetid, fear scent behind him.

"We want to head to the courtyard." Piper whispered to him, holding the hands of several children at once. Despite the untimely inappropriateness of the situation Aerrow couldn't help but think of how much of a good mother she'd be, in another space in time.

"Right. Which way's that?"

"At the end of this corridor turn left." she instructed and he did as he was told, halting briefly to listen for any approaching Talons and checking to make sure they still had everybody. Then they hurried on.

It was an eerie feeling to be fleeing down these corridors with so many kids in tow. It hadn't really been that long ago that he'd been their age and was sure he would have felt the same way they did now. In this given situation would he have been like Finch and Stella, tough and determined to protect those smaller then himself? Or might he have been like Pidgin and cling to someone older, stronger, faster?

He liked to think he'd act as the former.

"Hang a right up here, Aerrow and then take the first set of stairs you see down." Piper called to him in a pantomimey sort of way. Aerrow jerked his head in acknowledgment and skidded and had to back track as the next turn appeared faster then expected.

He skidded again as he came to an abrupt halt, Radarr's body whip lashing on his shoulder and digging his little blue digits into his hair for support. Finn bumped into his back.

"What?" the sharpshooter demanded uneasily, although the answer was obvious. This new passage was completely pitch black. Not even an emergency light flickered at the opposite end.

"Everyone stay quiet." Aerrow whispered behind him, feeling a prickly feeling on the back of his neck that alerted them that they weren't alone. Finn slid Pidgin into Stella's arms and raised his crossbow warily, peering through the scope stubbornly.

They waited, the whole troop of them, with baited breath, starring into the darkness until their eyeballs hurt from the strain.

Then something shuffled ahead of them.

"Finn, ten o'clock!" Aerrow shouted, pulling Finch and another child against the wall and out of the line of fire. Finn leapt forward and cracked three shots off into the darkness. The blue energy's light lit up the passage momentarily and gave them a silhouetted view of a horde of Talons, etching them out like quicksilver.

"Aerrow, take these kids and run! Finn and I'll handle these jerks!" Junko hollered, clapping his knuckles together and taking off down the hall while Finn fired round after round at the dark mob.

It took all of Aerrow's will power to shove aside his Sky Knight instincts and walk away from the fight. He turned instead to Piper, barely able to make her out it the dark.

"Which way?" he had to raise his voice to be heard over the ensuing sound of battle.

"Keep to the wall, the staircase should be just ahead." she answered and he nodded before remembering she couldn't see him.

"Okay. Here we go." He broke into a run, keeping one hand on the wall and the other firmly wrapped around Finch's. He prayed that they wouldn't lose anyone in the dark and that Finn and Junko would hold their own alright and that they'd be able to catch up and not get lost and that Stork and Wing were on their way and that please please please let none of these kids get caught in the crossfire.

He almost fell down that flight of stairs, it yawned up in front of him so suddenly. He felt somebody whoosh by behind them and assumed it was Junko, because right after that there was a muffled _whump _of fist meeting flesh.

"Here, here!" Aerrow called back to Piper. "Found it! Have we still got everyone?"

"I think so. Just go Aerrow, quickly!" Piper urged and he took in a deep breath, promised himself that Finn and Junko would be okay and then vaulted down the stairs, half leading and half dragging Finch behind him.

"Right to the bottom!" Piper's voice echoed weirdly from the dark above him as she ushered the rest of the kids down the dark stairs and answering his question before he even asked it.

He stumbled three times and kept getting his knee sockets jolted as he skipped several stairs unknowingly in the dark. He looked upward and wished the emergency lights would turn back on. He didn't dare risk lighting up one of his blades; if anyone was waiting at the bottom they'd see him coming from miles away.

He heard thumping and clattering coming from above, rapidly descending towards them. "Hold up!" he called and skidded to a halt, nearly loosing his balance and taking the long way down the stairs.

"It's just us!" Finn's voice panted from above. "Keep going!"

"You're both alright?"

"Not for long if we don't get outta here, captain!"

"Point taken." Aerrow muttered and continued hurtling down the stairs, feeling like he was pitching himself down the throat of some monstrous beast.

The stairs levelled off so abruptly that he kept going for a moment expecting there to be another step beneath him. He hit the ground hard, staggered and fell, most un-leader like. At least he had the decency to let go of Finch's hand before he did so.

"Guys, watch out for the bottom!" he called up a little too late. Piper stumbled and let out a surprised yelp but held her balance. Finn crashed right into him. Junko was far enough up to hear the warning and stepped off the last stair indifferently.

"Watch out for what now?" he asked.

"Have we got everybody?" Piper was asking, attempting to do a head count. "Is there anyone missing?" she turned to Aerrow looking ashamed of herself. "I should have set up a buddy-system." she scolded.

"You're doing great." Aerrow assured her. "Now, which way to the courtyard?"

"Straight ahead, through those big doors." she said, still sounding annoyed with herself.

"Junko, wanna let us out?" Aerrow asked, looking around the considerably brighter entrance hall nervously. Junko approached the mighty doors and stared up at them with a shrug.

"Who are these guys trying to impress?" he asked and with one hand on either handle he dragged them open as easily as if he were pulling a blanket over his bed.

"Good work, Junko. Is there anybody out there? Talons, the _Condor_?" Aerrow asked. Junko leaned out and looked around.

"Nobody."

Aerrow couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not. What he did know was they couldn't stay waiting like a flock of sheep at the bottom of these stairs. "Alright. Everybody follow us out and stick together, okay?" Again he was greeted with several scattered nods. He motioned for Junko to wait behind them again and then stepped out into the courtyard warily, his eyes jumping from shadow to shadow.

The courtyard was large enough to fit the _Condor_ without difficulty. Landing it in between the high grey walls may have been something of a challenge, however, but he had faith in Stork. What he didn't like was how closed in he felt in here. It was like stepping into a big, cardboard box. He looked up at the walls anxiously. It would be so easy for the Talons to open fire from above, pick them off like fish in a barrel.

"Come on, Stork, where are you?" he muttered, training his eyes on the inky sky. He wished he had his radio.

He stopped in the middle of the yard and turned to look at Piper, trying not to look as desperate as he felt. Every second more they stood here was another second more that could give the Talons a chance to find them.

"Where are they?" he mouthed, not wanting to give the kids any reason for panic. Yet.

She lifted her palms and looked as uneasy as he felt. Finn was watching the doors they'd just come through, his crossbow lifted and at the ready. He didn't have much ammo left, Aerrow noticed in dismay.

"Aerrow?" Finch was tugging at his hand. Aerrow looked down at him and forced a smile onto his face reassuringly.

"What's up?"

"What are we waiting for?"

"Some friends of mine are coming with our carrier ship. They'll get us all out."

"Where are they?"

"They're coming." Aerrow promised. "They're just a little behind schedule. I need your help again, alright? Can you go tell everyone that when our ship gets here that they'll have to follow Piper and you inside? We can't afford to have anyone dawdling, okay?"

Finch nodded and went over to the group of children and began giving them Aerrow's instructions in a low voice.

Junko came over beside him then. "They're alright, right?" he whispered, although his voice didn't decrease in volume very much.

"Who?"

"Stork and Wing. I mean I know they got the power off, but…" Junko fidgeted uncomfortably. "I'm worried about them."

"Me too. But we have to keep these kids calm, remember. This is just a bit of a set back." Aerrow told him and he nodded grimly.

"You shouldn't lie to little children, Aerrow." A menacing, oh-so-familiar voice drawled from the darkness over at the opposite end of the yard.

Aerrow stepped forward, placing himself between the kids and this new threat, one he'd seen coming from the moment he saw the Talon emblem glinting in the light of the shadowy tunnels. Finn, Junko and Piper did likewise, pushing the kids back gently and pulling out their weapons with resolution.

The Dark Ace sauntered out from beneath a second shadowed passageway they hadn't noticed, over in the far right corner of the yard. As he approached them slowly Talons and Vultures alike spilled out of the dark mouth behind him, filing into ranks behind him, grinning wickedly. More and more and more of them, the whole damn nest.

The Dark Ace stopped in the middle of the courtyard and smiled smugly at them. Behind him stood his minions, more then Aerrow could take in in one glance. More then a hundred.

"I'll leave that sort of thing to you, Dark Ace." he growled while several children behind him whimpered and cried.

"Everybody stay together." he could hear Finch telling them and felt a rush of pride for his mini commander. He glanced over at the rest of his squadron and felt even more pride gallop momentarily in his chest. They all were standing with bent limbs and fierce faces, brave and collected and ready to fight despite the towering odds. He turned to face the Dark Ace again, feeling powerful beside his friends.

"Lying suits you better anyways." he continued. "What did you promise those pirates in return for their man power, I wonder?"

The Dark Ace laughed, a dark, harsh sound. "Man power? You mean flesh wall. They know what they're here for, foolish little Sky Knight, and they know what their reward is as well. No, Aerrow, today you are the liar and I can tell you why in four simple words."

"Oh yeah? Enlighten me." Aerrow dared, although he was sure he knew what was coming and didn't want to hear it.

The Dark Ace smirked and the lifted a pale hand to count down with his fingers: "Your friends aren't coming." His last finger dropped finally and Aerrow felt a spike of dread poke a hole in his confidence.

"He's making it up." Piper told them as Junko faltered and Finn shot Aerrow a disarmed glance. "The power went out, you saw it. They're coming."

The Dark Ace laughed again. "You're always so sure of yourselves, aren't you? The pathetic little Storm Hawks, stubborn and arrogant in their youth and talent. But why would I want to bluff about a thing like that? I already have enough men here to personally annihilate you, why would I be worried about, ah… reinforcements?"

"Because you know we can kick your butt from here to Cyclonia!" Finn barked.

"Shall I give you two more guesses? No?" The Dark Ace taunted them. He wanted them to make the first move, Aerrow realized, to draw them away from the children. He ground his boots into the stone firmly. "Then I'll tell you. I don't have to bluff because I _know_ I've got your Merb friend and that wretched little Shadow Stryker hanging from the ceiling, quite incapacitated, as we speak."

Aerrow faltered momentarily. How would the Dark Ace know Wing was a Shadow Stryker unless he really had run into them? And why no talk of Falshade? This was bad, really bad, he knew it.

"Maybe it will console you to know that they're alive still, until I finish with you. You should try and keep me busy." The Dark Ace said, all smugness gone from his voice as he advanced forward. "Goodbye, Storm Hawks."

Right around then Aerrow heard the engine rumbling in the night air. And then something burst over top of the towering walls and dropped into a nose dive, something loud and definitely not hanging from a ceiling.

"_KABOOM, MOTHER FUCKERS, KABOOM!_" Wing howled and pulled her skimmer right over their heads, narrowly avoiding Junko before disabling the wings and turning herself sideways so the flat side of her skimmer was facing the Talons. Tire squealed and screeched as she skidded over the ground, still going much too fast, and crashing right into the front ranks, turning her skimmer into a battering ram. She leapt free of her ride as it continued to roll over Cyclonians and Vultures and then whipped her broadsword off her back. With one massive two-handed sweep she unleashed a mighty wall of fire that roared straight towards the confused and scattered Talons.

The _Condor_'s horn sounded so loudly that it rattled the ground beneath Aerrow's feet and reverberated in his chest. He looked up to see their bird sinking down slowly towards them and he couldn't remember ever being happier to see her.

"Watch it, make room!" Piper was saying, ushering kids out of the way as the _Condor_'s pontoons touched down and the ramp ejected itself down to contact with the ground with a solid clang.

"Piper and Finn get those kids inside, quickly! Junko with me, we gotta help Wing!" Aerrow shouted over the noise and then charged toward the band of Talons, slightly depleted now and stricken but no less a threat.

Wing didn't seem like she needed help, however. She was releasing burst of flame every now and then from her broadsword to keep from getting completely surrounded and then swinging and chopping madly at anyone who got to close. She was ranting and raving like a lunatic, however, and Aerrow was worried about her.

"_When I grab a sharpened object and choirs of angels seem to sing_- back off you sonofabitch!" she shouted, whacking a Vulture around the middle with the flat of her broadsword with enough force to make a Wallop nod in approval. Aerrow kept an eye on her and then made a quick sweeping look to see where the Dark Ace had gotten too. He seemed to have vanished and that irritated Aerrow, even thought he knew he shouldn't be scratching for a fight with him. Besides if the Dark Ace wasn't around usually that meant less people got hurt. However what could he be up to that would suddenly call him away from battle?

Junko was clearing a path through Talons easily, throwing punched like he was cutting through bamboo with a machete. Aerrow saw Vultures fleeing back into their nest and gaps were forming in Talon ranks like a shirt chewed on by moths. He shot through one such gap, landed a punch in the face of one unfortunate Talon and came up beside Wing. He perhaps should have warned her because she turned and was so surprised by his sudden appearance that she nearly gutted him with her scimitar.

"Nice timing." he told her and took in how frightening she looked. She was covered from head to toe in blood, some new enough that it dripped from her hair. Her face was marked by tear tracks and dirt and she looked bruised and battered and broken and feral. For the first time since meeting her he had to question he emotional stability. Living alone beside the graves of your family had to have some sort of psychological effect, after all, and he wondered if it was really such a good idea after all to have invited her along with them.

"Call it a hunch." she said and then pulled him down as a Talon took a swipe at his exposed back. She shot upward again and launched a kick into his chest before flinging him back with another impressive swipe of her broadsword.

"I got your skimmers!" she yelled as they were suddenly engulfed by a wave of Talons forced back by Junko. He was loosing sight of her in the crowd, many of which were more intent on getting away then fighting anymore. He nodded to show he'd heard and pummelled the nearest Cyclonian beneath a series of quick jabs. He risked a glance over at the _Condor_ and saw Finn standing on one of the pontoons, restocked with crossbolts and firing at any Talons who got too close. Radarr was circling about like a sheep dog as if to make sure no children were left behind. Piper was holding Pidgin and directing the rest of them into the hanger. They were almost ready to go.

"Junko, Wing, fall back to the _Condor_!" Aerrow shouted over the sea of Talons. Junko saluted him and carved himself a path back across the courtyard. Wing was fighting her way back to her fallen skimmer but turned briefly to give Aerrow a thumbs up to show she'd heard.

Most of the Talons had retreated now and Aerrow had a much easier time getting back across the yard. He turned and fired three charges at their fleeing backs for good measure and then approached the _Condor_, waving up at Stork on the bridge and holding out his arm as Radarr scrambled onto his shoulder.

"Aerrow! They've got ships!" Finn yelled down to him, pointing. Aerrow looked up and could make out a large carrier ship rising into the night. It didn't appear to be interested in attacking the grounded air ship. They were running now, too battered to try and take on the squadron anymore. They learned fast.

Wing motored over on her skimmer, which looked sore and thoroughly scraped. "I'm going top side to make sure they don't try anything funny." she called to Aerrow over the roar of her engine and he lifted a finger to tell her to wait. He beckoned for Finn and Junko to follow and hurried into the hanger and bee-lined for his ride. He had to weave between children and decided to walk it rather then ride out of the hanger.

"Piper, will you and Stork be okay on your own?" he called to her and she nodded, holding Finch firmly by the shoulder as he struggled to come after Aerrow.

"Go and chase them off. Stork and I will meet you back at the city." she said and brought the last of the children up the ramp. Aerrow realized he hadn't given her much opportunity to fight all evening, instead enlisting her to keep an eye on the kids. He promised himself to make it up to her later.

It was hard to take off in the cramped courtyard and Finn nearly ended up crashing head first into one of the mighty walls but they climbed steadily upward and then were free of the fortress. Aerrow could see now not only one but three air ships taking off in the distance. The really were turning tail and running. He smirked and turned to look at his squadron triumphantly.

"Look at them run! Cowards!" Finn yowled, pointing his six gunned fingers after them and shooting them at the retreating carriers like pistols cockily. Junko punched a still glowing fist in the air. Wing managed a lopsided grin.

"Have I ever told you guys how amazing we are?" Aerrow asked and Finn wrapped him in a one-armed hug awkwardly from his skimmer, squeezing his shoulders gamely.

"Yeah, but you can say it one more time, just for me, Cap'n!" he crowed in Aerrow's ear.

"Stop calling me that. Like, now."

"You might wanna move, the _Condor_'s a big girl." Stork's voice crackled through Aerrow's speaker then. They peered down and could make out the _Condor_'s lights as she lifted from the courtyard like a ghost. Finn snorted.

"You better not talk to real girls that way, Stork-y, or your never gonna get any." he said, using Aerrow's intercom system as opposed to his own because he was a knob that way.

Stork muttered something inaudible at the other end of the radio and Finn giggled like a maniac.

They circled back down and coasted along behind the _Condor _like an escort. Aerrow kept looking back over his shoulder as if he expected to see skimmers following them. He couldn't just shake this feeling that there was still something or someone about back there. It just seemed too easy.

The next time he turned around he had to blink several times. Okay, now he was just being paranoid. Those weren't really skimmers, were they?

Then the _Condor_'s proximity alerts went off and could be heard even from this distance in the still night and he knew there really were skimmers behind him.

A red bolt of electricity barrelled past him and nearly caught Finn's engine. They simultaneously wheeled about to see the formation of Cyclonians hanging in the air like hornets.

"You didn't expect us to give up that easily, did you?" The Dark Ace's voice floated over the space between them silkily and taunting even after their defeat at the citadel.

Aerrow began to wheel his skimmer about in the air, glancing at the others to make sure they were prepared for battle too, but stopped suddenly when he caught sight of Wing. She was hunched over her controls, stiff, trembling. Something glittering dripped from her chin in rapid succession. Dark, matted hair obscured almost the rest of her face, but Aerrow could see her lips moving, muttering something over and over again, slowly and then quickly and then slowly, disjointedly again. He strained to catch it, caught up in her sudden strange attitude despite the situation:

"I hate….I hate Cyclon….I…hate…I love you, Falshade… and I hate…"

She jerked upright then and screamed it out so loudly that Finn and Junko turned to look now too.

"I HATE CYCLONIANS!"

She flung herself against the throttle, wrenching her skimmer into a straight upward climb so abruptly and roughly it groaned and screeched at her in protest and insult. She rolled her ride around and then gunned it, pushing her ride to its limit as she charged the fleet of Talons.

"Cover her!" Aerrow shouted at the other tow and then tore after Wing.

**x**

She could only half see. Images and urges and impulses and broken dreams flashed like a chewed up movie reel behind her retinas. She was feeling too small again as a pressure swelled and roiled and devoured anything in its path in her guts and under her ribs. Her throat felt like it was closing and she couldn't suck up enough oxygen. Her radio was crackling like a sparking fire beneath her left wrist as Piper tried to contact her from the _Condor_, but she couldn't hear her. All she could hear was the blood thrashing in her veins, in her ears it seemed, could feel the vessels constrict and then expand behind her eyes and temples, too fast, too roughly.

She could see the Dark Ace though. The whole time he remained clearly in her wavering vision. She saw him lift his sword, drawing her forward daringly. His red eyes connected with hers for a second time that night and she absorbed every echo of their hue, of that colour, as red as an exploding sun.

And then she knew she wasn't meant to be the one to kill him.

An electricity coiled dangerously between the two of them again, waiting to blow, but it was a different kind this time. She felt no less hate for him then she had before, no less then she ever would carry for him. But she knew she wasn't the only one to hold that hate. How many other families had he ripped apart, how many other oaths had been sworn against him, how many tears had she added to the sea that he held claim to? In the end, it didn't matter how badly she wanted to see his soul flicker and fade in his eyes, there were hundreds of others out there who wanted it just as much. Who was she to think she was the one to finally end it? What made her so special?

She knew then if anyone were to finally kill the Dark Ace it would be Aerrow. It was just the way it should be. She'd had here moment of emptiness, been pitched into a place emptier and darker then hate, been consumed by it, a place called revenge, and she hadn't liked it one bit. She'd had her taste of that hollowness, a feeling the Dark Ace himself probably knew all too well and she was quite content to stay out here, just this side of it, and nurse her hatred.

She realized all this in a split second and knew she wasn't about to charge into a final battle with the Dark Ace. But she did want to hurt him, to mash the same amount of pain into him as he had forced into her at that moment. She wanted it more then anything else. And that was what she planned to do.

The Dark Ace raised his blood hued blade and she feinted a reach for her scimitar. She was almost upon him, close enough she could see every detail of his crooked, perverted grin, his greasy black hair and the black empty centers of his gleaming eyes. And in the split second before impact she smiled at him, a werewolf grin, showing off her teeth and splitting her cracked lips. And she saw something deliciously like confusion flicker in his eyes.

Got you.

At the last instant she flipped her skimmer over so that she was flying nearly horizontal and pulled up and out of reach of his blade. She gave him a good long look at the width of her wings before the lower one pounded directly into his face, a satisfying, solid _thud _of his skull banging into metal with nearly a hundred miles per hour worth of speed behind it.

She lowered herself over the helm of her ride and propelled her ride back towards the citadel. Her job was finished now and she felt like if she didn't go back, like, right _now_ her insides were going to blow through her skin and her chest would implode. She already felt like one of her tear ducts had exploded; tears were running freely from the corners of her eyes and she no longer had control over them. Her anger had abandoned her with her sorrow and she no longer had the energy to fight it.

However she did have enough energy left in the corners of her bones to summon up a bit of vengeful humour. If not for anything else then for Falshade. She twisted slightly so she could see the limp form of the Dark Ace keel from his ride and plummet a good fifty feet before one of his counterparts managed to catch him.

"That's why they call me Wing, bitch." she coughed up. "And don't wear it out."

**x**

Aerrow heard the connection of metal meeting skull and watched the Dark Ace waver for a second before keeling forward and plummeting. Laughter was the first thing the bubbled up in his throat and he wished he would have thought of something like that before.

"Take that you S.O.B.!" Finn yelled before turning his sights on one of the other Talon skimmers. "You mess with the Storm Hawks and you get their wings!"

Aerrow was watching Wing now, as she continued on a straight shot route back to the fortress instead of angling back around to regroup. He was abruptly worried that she might be considering taking up chase of the other airships.

"Junko, follow Wing and keep her out of trouble, okay?" he hollered to the Wallop, figuring he would have the easiest time carving a path towards the wayward lost girl if needed. Junko nodded and motored after Wing while Finn and Aerrow began the assault on what remained of the scattered and disorganized Talons. Now that they'd lost their leader they seemed more interested in taking flight then continuing with their attack. Finn and Aerrow weaved among them, firing charges more out of a gloating sort of warning then actually making contact. They dive-bombed a few of them, cackling and jeering until Finn got a little too close (and too cocky) and nearly lost an engine to one particularly aggressive Cyclonian. After that they fell back and watched them flee to catch up with the rest of their heinous crew.

"Think that's the last this Terra'll see of those guys?" Finn asked, banging on his smoking engine with his cross bow in irritation.

"Let's hope so. Maybe we should hang around for a couple days to make sure they don't come back for round two." Aerrow said and then looked around absently. "Where'd those two get to? Don't tell me they went all the way back to the citadel!"

Finn groaned. "Argh! I just want this to be over, I'm ti-red." he whined. "Let's just go back, they can catch up."

"No, I'm not leaving them alone up here in case there's still Vultures about down there." Aerrow said and ignored Finn's grumbling as he pushed his intercom button. "Stork, Piper, Finn and I have to go back and get Wing and Junko. You take those kids back to the city already."

"No way, we're coming too." the microphone said indignantly in Piper's voice. "Why'd they go back anyways?" The transmission ended but it was obvious Piper hadn't taken her finger off the button because they were able to hear Stork make an 'erm' noise in the background.

"Stork?" this was Piper. "What happened?"

"Probably best if you don't hear it from me." Stork's voice said skittishly on the other end. Finn was leaning over Aerrow's shoulder even though he had an intercom system of his own.

There was a scuffling noise and then Stork was yelping "No pinching, no pinching!"

Finn snorted. "Kinky." he said and Aerrow pushed him back a couple inches because he was breathing on his neck and it smelled.

"Tell us!"

"I'm trying to _drive _here…Ow ow ow!"

"_Tell us!"_

"Okay! Back off!" Stork took a deep breath and then whoosed out one word:

"Falshade."

It took that name for Aerrow to notice the panthera's absence and suddenly something was clawing inside him. Radarr made an alarmed squawking sound and then Aerrow and Finn were flying after Wing and Junko without having to say a word.

It was hard to angle back down over the courtyard but after a few short spirals they were touching back down on the cobbled yard. Stork kept the _Condor_ hanging above their head in wait but Piper came down to join them, finding it much easier to make the landing with her manoeuvrable heliscooter. She was just touching down when Junko appeared in the dark doorway, Wing shadowed beside him.

Aerrow had slipped off his skimmer, unable to come up with any words. Wing was starring at them with wide, lost eyes and was holding something between her hands. A large, black paw.

Junko looked as if he were about to cry, his eyes watery and glassy and his lips trembling. In his arms he held Falshade, or what was left of him here now. The powerful and majestic animal hung limply between his arms, head lolling and his intelligent feline eyes, the colour of his jungle homeland, closed forever.

Radarr made an indiscernible noise and Finn had pulled a hand over his face. Only Piper seemed to still contain the use of her voice, but when it crawled from her lips it was barely a whisper.

"Oh Wing." she murmured and then rushed forward to catch the smaller girl as her legs buckled beneath her.

**Finally!! Oh man I am so sorry that it's taken me this long to update! I am really disgusted with myself. If I ever get this bad again feel free to PM me and send me a virtual slap! **

**But now that this chapter is finally up (it's been sitting half finished for months now) I'd like to dedicate it to someone very special to me. This is for my dog, Sloopy, who passed away last week. She didn't have wings, but she was just as loyal and loving and brave as Falshade and I know she would have died to protect me and my family if she had to. **

**Love you, girl.**


End file.
